Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Schools were yesterday counting losses following the government’s decision to close them for Half Term break yesterday.

Headteachers interviewed lamented that they had incurred losses running into millions of shillings as they were forced to dispose of foodstuff that had already been delivered by suppliers after the government announced the sudden closure of schools to pave way for next week’s General Election.

Most schools also had to defer the mid-term examinations that had been scheduled for this week.

A principal of an extra-county secondary school in Central Rift who spoke on condition of anonymity said he had to dispose of one week supply of perishable foodstuff following the unscheduled closure of schools.

“We normally make orders of cabbages and tomatoes in bulk on weekends, which go for at least a week. Last weekend we got our batch and was to take us up to Friday. Now we have to dispose of it all,” he said.

The principal said teachers were given some of the food because suppliers cannot take them back.

“I think the move was hasty. They should have given us a window of three or so days to be able to clear our stock,” he added.

In Nyamira County, head teachers, principals and teachers said the decision to close schools not only affected exams, which were in progress, but also food that they had purchased.

“Exams were going on when we received the directive but we had to stop. Schools have also lost a lot on perishable goods they had bought,” said a teacher at Sironga Girls High School who did not want to be named.

Kapsabet High School Principal Kipchumba Maiyo raised similar concerns, saying the foodstuff the school had ordered will go to waste.

At Mama Ngina Secondary School, a girls’ National school in Mombasa, many students were stranded because they could not access transport.

The school’s Chief Principal Mwanahamisi Omar said a number of students had to be accommodated at the school after the closure as they continued to look for transport solutions.

Cold storage

According to Mwanahamisi, the school had scheduled to go for midterm break earliest on Thursday and most of the students, especially those from upcountry, had booked to travel on that day.

“Most of our girls, especially those from upcountry, were booked to travel on Thursday. Now the challenge is to reschedule travel because most of bus companies and the Standard Gauge Railway are fully booked,”  she told People Daily yesterday.

At Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Secondary School, Deputy Principal Rishad Rajab Ramadhan said they had to store remaining stock of perishable food supplies in cold storage facilities to avoid losses.

“We do not have any problem as far as the remaining stock is concerned. We have refrigerators that we will simply use to store the food until schools resume,” said Ramadhan.

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KSSHA) chairman Indimuli Kahi said school administrators did not know what to do with the food stocks.

“Another challenge is on perishables in boarding the schools. Already, schools had ordered for things like cabbages, tomatoes and other vegetables and you know they go bad very fast,” Kahi said during a TV interview yesterday.

“The challenge now is whether the suppliers will come back to take back their deliveries. Or what are the schools supposed to do?” he asked.

Kahi said most schools were planning to release learners for Half Term break from Friday. He also raised issue with the August 11 reopening date.

“Once we finish elections, IEBC has seven days to announce results… that takes us to August 16. If they announce  results within the seven days and all parties agree with the outcome, then we will go back to school immediately. But if it is contested, even if we say they should come back, parents may not have the confidence to allow their children to go back to school,” he explained.

Midterm exams

He, however, expressed optimism that learners will go back to school immediately after elections to complete the second half of second term.

He said schools will also have to reschedule the programmes when they resume because the break came when most schools were either commencing their mid term assessments or were in the middle.

National Parents Association chairman Nicholas Maiyo said they had voiced their misgivings with the Ministry over the re-opening date.

“We do not know whether all the contenders will accept the results but even if they concede, the August 11 date is still tricky. But the Ministry has promised that we will cross the bridge then because we value the security of our children,” said Maiyo.

Special needs

On Monday, Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan issued a circular on early mid-term break to County Directors of Education saying the safety of learners should be ensured.

The PS asked schools to release learners in boarding schools before noon yesterday.

He also urged schools to accord special attention to learners with special needs and who may require to be picked from school and put in place a mechanism to confirm safe arrival of learners at home.

“The reopening of schools is scheduled for August 11, unless otherwise advised,” the PS noted.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Homa Bay branch Secretary Patrick Were criticised the government’s decision to abruptly close schools, saying it had interfered with learning programmes.

“We appreciate the closure of schools so that the country can prepare for the election but it was too abrupt. Election dates are enshrined in the Constitution. Closure of schools should not have come as an emergency. Many schools, learners and parents have been inconvenienced by the decision,” said Were.

—Reporting by Irene Githinji, Roy Lumbe, Wycliff Kipsang, Noven Owiti, Sophie Njoka, Gloria Sande and Evans Nyakundi