Many schools are ill-prepared to implement Education CS George Magoha’s proposal requiring that each classroom accommodate a maximum of 15 to 20 pupils when they reopen in September.
School administrators say the planned scaling down of the number of learners per class will be a tall order, citing inadequate infrastructure and an acute shortage of teachers.
There is also the question of PPEs for learners and teachers. Principals and headteachers said the most affected would be boarding schools.
USE OF TENTS
While Prof Magoha had proposed the use of tents for schools with limited classrooms, teachers feel this will not be practical for schools with small compounds given the high population of learners.
Some school heads have proposed spreading out learning in shifts so that some learners attend classes in the morning and the rest come in the afternoon.
“Even if we were to conduct learning in phases, what happens to the students at night when they retreat to their dormitories? How will social distancing rules be implemented?” posed a principal in Kericho.
Bomet Knut Secretary Malel Lang’at said apart from the inadequate space to stagger the classes, the biggest challenge is a shortage of teachers.
In Siaya, most schools are single-streamed and in some instances, there are up to 70 pupils per classroom. In Gem, some schools have a single classroom shared by two classes facing opposite directions.
LEARNING IN SHIFTS
In Kakamega, school heads urged the ministry to address expansion of infrastructure and consider learning in shifts.
In Homa Bay, County Education Network coordinator Julius Omuga asked the government to first build extra classrooms and hire more teachers.
At Shauriyako Primary School in Homa Bay Town with 1,360 learners and 24 classrooms, headteacher John Oguttu said if they were to implement the guidelines, KCPE candidates would take 13 classrooms, leaving the rest of the learners stranded.
“We have limited space within the school compound and construction of an additional classroom would be a challenge unless it is a storey building. Currently there are an average of 65 learners per class,” he said.
At Makongeni Primary School, headteacher Simon Mwita said the board of management will meet next week to plan on accommodation of the 500 learners in nine classrooms.
“We already have five hand-washing troughs. We intend to add more because we do not want pupils crowded as they wash their hands. Our only problem is inadequate classrooms,” he said.
“We are also considering introducing learning in shifts where a group of pupils learn in the morning and the other in the afternoon,” he said.
FUMIGATING CLASSROOMS
In Kisumu, Kuppet Branch Secretary Zablon Awange said “merely reducing classes will not work and will mean overworking existing teachers”.
“Schools like Xaverian Primary School and St Loyola Magadi Secondary in Kisumu don’t have big compounds. Therefore, the Education CS should conduct an assessment for all schools and see how to handle this cases,” said Mr Awange.
In Migori, Kadika Girls Principal Rosslyn Otieno said the infrastructure could only accommodate the candidates’ class and sanitisation programmes including fumigating classrooms and dormitories was going on in preparation for the candidates.
Kakamega School Principal Gerald Orina said only the Form Four students should be allowed to report back because of the infrastructural challenges.
“It will be safer to start by allowing the Form Four students who are preparing for exams to report back as we monitor the situation regarding the coronavirus infections. At the moment, it quite unsafe to allow the learners before issue of expansion of the infrastructure is fully addressed,” said Mr Orina.
The institution has an average of 60 students per class.
Kakamega Primary School headteacher Dickson Wanyangu proposed staggering of learning to avoid congestion.
OVER 3,000 PUPILS
He proposed some learners could report to school in the morning while others attend their classes in the afternoon. The school has over 3,000 pupils.
Fesbeth Academy Drector Ruth Minish said the Ministry of Education should come up with clear guidelines on reopening of schools to avoid exposing learners to coronavirus infections.
“We have serious challenges that will emerge in terms of infrastructure in our schools. What the Ministry of Education is proposing is not practical, given the Covid-19 scenario,” said Ms Minish.
Ms Tecla Sum of Masinde Muliro University said the Ministry of Education should consider allowing leaners to attend schools close to their homes to avoid being exposed to infections while travelling back to schools.
Chavakali High School in Vihiga County Principal John Kuira said an additional 60 classes will be required to accommodate a population of over 2,000 learners
Moses Mudavadi Primary School, Mululu headteacher Kihima Eboso said 32 more classes will be needed to accommodate the 1,200 pupils if the school has to adhere to social distancing.
Chavakali High School has 30 classes while Moses Mudavadi Primary School has 28.
The class with the least number of students at Chavakali has 60 boys with other streams having over 70 students per classroom. The headteacher said the school will require an additional 160 teachers.
Kisii County Director of Education Pius Ngoma said he had formed a team to investigate the state of classrooms across the region.
ACCOMMODATE CANDIDATES ONLY
Kereri Girls Principal Teresia Atieno said the school has 43 classrooms against 2,400 students.
Separately, Mr Simon Namunwa, principal Nyabigena Boys High School, said there were only 24 classrooms in his school against a population of 1,400 students and 58 teachers.
“In order to accommodate 20 students in each classroom, we need more than 24 classrooms since the ones we have can accommodate candidates only,” he said.
At Senior Chief Musa Nyandusi High School in Kegati, there are more than 1,150 students against 21 classrooms according to the school principal Vincent Kirui.
Kanga High School Deputy Principal George Goa said they are putting in place the necessary measures, including reorganising classrooms to accommodate the candidates.
Migori County Kenya National Union of Teachers Executive-Secretary Caleb Opondi and Kuppet chairman Orwa Kasolo said the government should not rush to open learning institutions until proper mechanisms of handling Covid-19 are put in place.
Mr Opondi cautioned that the rush to open the learning institutions would lead to further infections.
He suggested reopening schools in January and postponing the national examinations to July 2021 if the pandemic will have been contained by then.
