Why Schools May Not Reopen Soon

• The level of preparedness in most of the school if not all remains the biggest reason issue.  With the president releasing funds for more desks in schools, some schools have indicated that they do not have classrooms where the desks will be housed while some decry shortage of classrooms.

With teachers already in schools to prepare for the reopening of schools, it was highly anticipated that president Uhuru Kenyatta will announce the official reopening date during the yesterday’s conference.
However, during the 12th address on the COVID-19 in the country at the KICC, President Kenyatta urged focus on ‘how’ schools would reopen and not ‘when’.
He said the conversation on “when” would only be had once the safety of the learners was assured.
“Learning institutions should only be reopened when we have and can sufficiently guarantee the safety of all our children. Let us not focus on when schools will reopen but on how they will reopen, ” he said
During the address, President Kenyatta called on Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha to finalize on how school’s would re-open safely, saying this would inform the decision on the actual reopening date.
With the reopening date still a dilemma, many have asked the question whether it is the right time for school reopening. The ‘how’ question paused by President Uhuru Kenyatta reveals the actual setbacks and complex approach in taking the bold move to reopen the schools.
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The level of preparedness in most of the school if not all remains the biggest reason issue.  With the president releasing funds for more desks in schools, some schools have indicated that they do not have classrooms where the desks will be housed while some decry shortage of classrooms.
Shortage of teachers in our learning institutions in our school is not a new thing. Reducing class sized to meet the social distancing rule will imply that most pupils will remain unattended to.
Parents on the other hand are divided on taking their children back to school should the ministry announce learning resumption date. With most of them aware of the actual situation in the schools their children learn, some are of the opinion schools should remain closed up to next year.
Some see the hurried move to reopen schools now as an attempt to expose their children with the numbers of covid-19 cases remaining a challenge.
Some of the countries that reopened their schools have been forced to shut them after the surge of Covid-19 cases. In some countries, children end up being victims and we have seen cases of over 500 school going children being taken to isolation in England.
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