CS Magoha has rubbished claims that candidates who were set to sit for their national examinations this year will be allowed to do so and officially declared this year’s school calendar null and void due to the coronavirus and that all learners will resume studies in January next year.
“In consultation with Ministry of Health, we have agreed schools to reopen when daily Covid-19 cases reduce consistently for 14 days. Social and physical distancing is the most critical factor in ensuring the safety of learners,” the CS said.
Prof Magoha went ahead on to explain that allowed candidate to go back to school earlier will pose serious challenges when rest of the learners report back.
For instance, if class eight candidates sat for their examination this year there will be two form one classes in 2021 Academic year. Therefore, a country will experience very severe equity challenges which will conflict the provision of constitution. Furthermore, there will be insufficient teachers in secondary schools to handle two form one classes.
Despite the fact that form four candidate could have left, their numbers are fewer as compared to class eight candidates. This therefore beats logic that the extra form one class could substitute the form four one.
Another challenge explained by Magoha is movement of learners back to school “Inter-county movement of students will cause severe challenges with high incidents of infections. We are happy to inform Kenyans that the president accepted the recommendations.”
