Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has acknowledged that social distancing in schools will be a major challenge ahead of the planned September re-opening.
Speaking in Kitui County Textile Centre (KICOTEC) on Wednesday, Magoha said the existing infrastructure in schools will not support such a recommendation given the learner population.
Magoha, however, said teachers will be required to report two weeks before reopening as part of the new measures to necessitate specialized training on management of COVID-19.
On students, the CS said the government will ensure schools get 24 million masks by September so that each child gets at least two.
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“The government will procure 24 million face masks from government institutions of Rivatex, Kicotec and the National Youth Service (NYS) for school children ahead of September re-opening.”
“Once we agree on the prototype, then we will get the pricing so that when schools open in September, face masks will be in the institutions by mid-August as per the presidential directive,” Prof Magoha added.
“Every school will be required to also have thermal guns for temperature checks,” he said.
These are part of the measures that will have to be put in place in schools as the country grapples with the virus.
The minimum requirements upon reopening have been outlined as clean running water and soap for handwashing or hand sanitizers.
The institutions will also be required to sanitise often-touched surfaces such as doorknobs, light switches and stair railings with disinfectants.
In March, the government closed all schools in a bid to avert the unrestrained spread of COVID-19.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on June 1 asked the Education and Health ministries to chart the path towards reopening learning institutions.
Kenya has so far reported 5,206 cases of COVID-19, 130 fatalities and 1,823 recoveries since March 13, when the first local case was announced.
