Reopening: TSC Directs Teachers to Report to Work by Monday
Schools Reopening in Kenya
Both Primary and secondary school teachers have been directed by their employer to report back to work by Monday.
This comes as preparations to reopen schools in Kenya hit the homestretch.
Confirming the news, Teachers Service Commission, TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia made the announcement on Monday following a meeting among stakeholders held at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, KICD offices in Nairobi to map out a successful reopening of learning institutions.
According to a resumption program from the Ministry of Education, teachers are supposed to report to school early to make arrangements for candidates who were due to sit for their national examinations.
It is expected that the candidates will be the first cohort to resume learning in October.
KCSE, KCPE Candidates to resume learning in October 2020
“Two to three weeks after candidates return to school, the other learners would be recalled for a crash learning programme that will see second term work covered before end of December.
Third term would be covered between January and March, and national examinations will done in April next year,” says a report that appeared in the Standard on Monday.
The report further says that Education Response Committee chaired by Sara Ruto of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) report which has recommended that schools and colleges resume classes next month is highly likely to be adopted. This means that all teachers and non-teaching staff could be back in schools as early as Wednesday to hold meetings and make arrangements for the term.
Breakdown of all schools reopening rules for teachers and learners
“Once schools open, teachers will be given instructions to complete remaining class work ahead of administration of national examinations in April next year. To achieve this, teachers will be expected to create ample time within the learning days to cover the syllabus,” says the report.
It adds: Ministry of Education guidelines require that teachers create physical distance between learners by placing desks at least one metre apart, and one metre apart from all doors to avoid any physical contact or air contamination.
This comes even as the ministry of health insists that Kenya is not off the hook in as far as containing the virus is concerned.
On Sunday, CS Kagwe clarified that the curve is not flat.
Therefore, Kenyans need to be extremely cautious to prevent reinfection.
In some countries, schools have been shut down even after reopening following a resurgence of covid-19 cases
Important lessons from
Some Countries that Reopened Schools.
Kids and Covid-19
Studies from around the world suggest that success depends on class size, distancing, the age of the students, and how prevalent the virus is, locally.
As teachers and ministry officials in Kenya try to figure out how to open classrooms, they need to keep in mind that the science they need to make these tough choices is still evolving.
A few things are clear though:
1. Most school-going children don’t become as seriously ill from Covid-19 as adults. They have much lower fatality rates. However, the question of how fast children are likely to spread the virus to teachers, staff and others still remains a mystery.
2. Among 24 households in which at least one family member had previously tested positive for Covid-19, there was only one transmission of the virus to another family member. The study authors say that means that the schoolchildren did not get infected despite living with an infected family member, and also did not pass on the virus to other schoolchildren.
“Our study finds that students play a less crucial role in transmitting the virus than initially thought,” Jakob Armann, an author of the study and a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University Children’s Hospital in Dresden, wrote in an email.
