Form four, class eight and grade four learners on Monday started trooping back their schools seven months after they were closed due to restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19.
Schools across the country were shut in March as part of broader shutdowns by the government to protect people from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha on Monday asked parents with children in other classes to start preparing them for reopening in one or two-week’s time.
A spot check by KNA on Monday at several schools in Kwale town showed enthusiastic learners who were excited to be back after a long hiatus in physical school learning. Some of the young learners were wearing facemasks while others did not have.
At Kwale Primary School the headmaster John Majepo said learners and teachers are happy to be back to school following months of enforced closures.
He said the school has put in place safety measures and asked parents and guardians not to be worried and apprehensive about the safety of their children.
Majepo said almost 80 percent of learners have reported day one and that they have imposed strict limits on contact between the children.
“We are doing this to ensure that they don’t spread the virus to one another,” he said adding that learners and teachers would undergo temperature tests as they enter the school compound.
In Kinarini primary school the headmaster Zeche Abdalla said the school faces water shortage making it difficult for the learners to wash their hands regularly.
“We have instructed the learners to come with water in three-litre containers from Tuesday,” he said.
He said water and hygiene facilities are a crucial part of school reopening safely and that they are working with concerned authorities to restore the water supply.
Omar Mwarachuma a parent told KNA that people are anxious to see what the coming weeks will look like as grade 4, class 8, and form four learners across the country resume studies.
Another parent Amina Faki a mother of two said she is happy at the resumption of classes saying prolonged school holidays could have a serious impact on the education sector in the long run.
She said life during the Covid-19 pandemic has been difficult for the parents and the children and said the return to school was a welcome step.
By Hussein Abdullahi
