Kenyans need clarity on school calender

Yesterday’s decision by the Education ministry to abruptly close schools today and for the next one week caught many parents, learners and teachers by surprise.

It is an indication of lack of proper planning on the part of the ministry and led to unplanned expenses by parents who were given barely 24 hours to raise fare for their children. Their presence at home will also inflate household budgets.

It also caught many teachers flatfooted, considering that some schools had planned to start administering mid-term examinations today. The exams now hang in limbo and the learners who had prepared for them will, no doubt, be adversely affected by the about-turn. Earlier, the ministry had indicated that schools would close on 6th and both parents and schools organised their schedules with this in mind.

Although the ministry now says children will re-open on 11th, this is in doubt since schools will be used as polling and tallying centres and it is unlikely that counting and tallying will have been completed by then.

Although yesterday’s decision is now water under the bridge, there is need for clarity on the school calendar going forward judging by the toll abrupt changes have exerted on all affected stakeholders. The education sector is too important to be managed on an ad hoc basis. When education officials fail to plan, they are, in effect, planning to fail. And when they fail, they also affect the morale and future of Kenyan children.

Already, there has been too much going on in the sector. Still, there are several national examinations coming up by December in an year that has been crammed with too many activities, including an increase in the number of terms.

Unless Ministry officials take time to organise the calendar better, the constant changes are likely to affect the quality of education, not to mention the retention of learners. The changes are also affecting the financial stability of parents who are still struggling to come to terms with the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The least that the ministry can do is to offer clarity even as they grapple with the challenges arising from the logistical nightmare occasioned by next week’s election.

Planners should also not forget that teachers are heavily involved in elections, either as polling clerks or returning officers for IEBC or as agents for candidates. That means they will be exhausted by the time schools re-open on 11th.

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