Education is one of the sectors that have had to bear the prolonged brunt of Covid-19 after learning in many countries was halted for more than a year. As a result, the after-shocks of the pandemic have disrupted school calendars. 

Kenya, like any other country across the globe, had its schools closed for close to a year, after which they were reopened under a crash programme. 

Since the re-opening, teachers have put pressure on Standard Eight and Form Four candidates to finish their syllabi on time before they sit national exams in November. 

Education stakeholders, under the guidance of the Ministry of Education, have been racing against time to ensure that learning returns to the normal calendar by early next year. It is against this backdrop that the government introduced measures that included compressed learning schedules, which are now taking a physical, mental and emotional toll on some learners who now have to study for longer hours each day. 

To make up for lost time, learners are being made to forego long holidays, leisure and extra-curricular activities in the race to complete the syllabus. Unfortunately, schools have now taken advantage of the situation to introduce a punishing learning regime on young learners oblivious of its consequences on their wellbeing. 

Reports that most schools are forcing learners, aged between 17 and 19 years to remain in class for longer hours are worrying. There is a risk that this will become counterproductive given that learners attention can only be guaranteed for a specific period. The Ministry of Education regulation on instructional time prescribes the official school hours for all public and private day primary and secondary schools to be from 8am to 3.30pm. 

Simply put, teachers are forcing learners to study for more than 12 hours in a day instead of the stipulated six.  The ministry needs to communicate unequivocally that the head teachers who have resorted to such arrangements in rush to complete the syllabus are not only ruining the future of the children but also breaking the law. Such punishing schedules are put to waste all the work and research conducted by education planners who have given clear guidelines on how teaching should be conducted.

The government must come out urgently with strong measures to protect the future of Kenyan youngsters from being pressured and burned out as this could lead to cases of indiscipline and other social challenges, such as violent behaviour.