Pressure to have educational institutions re-open continued to pile with Ugunja legislator, Opiyo Wandayi calling for immediate release of time table for gradual resumption of learning.
Wandayi said it was obvious that Covid 19 will be part of our lives hence no need to keep parents and students in perpetual suspense over the re-opening dates for schools and colleges.
Addressing the media in Ugunja over the weekend, the Member of Parliament said students can still save on time that is remaining this year if mechanisms are put in place to have the institutions open in September.
He said the government can start with the candidate classes and the vocational and technical colleges that he said are under populated.
“Vocational and technical colleges, from the last count, are under populated and none is operating at even half the capacity. Let us have them re-opened for learning,” said the legislator.
Wandayi said the damage of keeping the institutions shuts was already enormous and urged the education ministry to give a road map for resumption of classes.
“We can save on time that is remaining this year by putting in place mechanisms to at least allow candidates for KCPE and KCSE to resume learning, not these community learning things,” he said.
He said the fact that markets and other sectors of the economy were being opened was reason enough re-open schools and colleges.
“Whereas we value life and we must take precautions to ensure our children are protected, we must as a government find a mechanism to have learning resuming amidst this pandemic,” he said, adding that there was no evidence that come January 2021, the number of Covid 19 positive cases will have gone down.
Last week, education Cabinet Secretary, Professor George Magoha said it is President Uhuru Kenyatta who will decide and take full responsibility on when schools will re-open.
Prof. Magoha said in Siaya while inspecting the preparedness of Siaya Institute of Technology to resume classes that the president’s decision will however depend on the advice he receives from the experts and observation of what happens elsewhere globally.
“His excellency the president is in charge. If all the institutions are ready and the scourge is still on, do we still open schools because people are saying so?” posed the Cabinet secretary adding “ he will decide himself whether he can take the risk and I think you can guess what he going to do,”
By Philip Onyango
