This archive report was first published on 22 May 2020.
As the government prepares to reopen schools, teachers' and lecturers' unions have taken a bold step to challenge the government's plan. The unions, in partnership with the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), have engaged medical experts to develop a comprehensive report on the reopening of learning institutions.
Professor Florentius Koech, a renowned medical expert at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, is leading the team to advise institutions on how to make educational institutions COVID-19 free zones.
The move by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu), and KHRC comes as a response to the government's task force chaired by Dr. Sara Ruto, which was formed by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha. However, the unions and civil society were excluded from the team, leading to their disownment.
According to a joint statement by Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion, Uasu Secretary-General Constantine Opiyo, and KHRC Executive Director George Kegoro, reopening schools would be ill-advised at a time when the Ministry of Health has stated that infections are expected to hit an all-time high in September.
“It would be insensitive, pre-emptive, foolhardy, and extremely wrong for anybody outside the medical profession or without medical expertise to propose the rushed reopening of schools,” the statement read.
The unions have also cited examples from countries like France, where the number of infections sharply rose after an attempt to reopen schools, and Britain, where trade unions have demonstrated the difficulty of enforcing social distance in schools.
