First Term of the 2022 academic year comes to an end tomorrow.

It will go down as one of the shortest school terms and with it comes an equally short break.

Learners will only have a week-long break with schools re-opening for the second term on July 11.

The Kenya Primary School Heads Association (Kepsha) Chairperson, Johnson Nzioka yesterday said by the time learners sat their end of term exams, teachers had covered what was intended for the 10 weeks.

“The teachers engaged in active gear and managed to cover the First Term work as allocated and we are now ready for the Second Term,” Nzioka told the People Daily.

He however said schools are waiting to see how the next term unfolds because of August General Election but they are optimistic that there will be no disruption.

“We are looking forward and praying that there will be no interference on the timetable because schools are used as polling stations and anything out of the gazetted time lines might affect the short term,” said Nzioka.

Going by the previous elections, he said that the electoral commission uses the schools for about two weeks because the institutions are usually closed.

He however said the training of elections personnel, which usually take place in schools a week before the elections, should take place elsewhere this time round so that learning is not interrupted.

Nzioka also said the country is looking forward to peaceful elections so that learning can come back at the right time.

By the time the national examinations are held at the end of the year, Nzioka said that learners will have been well prepared.

“We are sure that there is enough protection for everyone in the country and that the time lines set will continue. We are looking forward to peaceful elections so that we can get back in time,” Nzioka stated.

The 10-week long first term has been characterised by unease over the delivery of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) classrooms and anxiety among parents and teachers over placement criteria for learners transitioning to Grade 7 in January.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has constantly maintained a hardline stance the Government will continue preparing for the transition until the next administration is sworn into office.

“The process of how children are going to apply to go to junior secondary school is being worked on and we will make sure that children are advised as to how to apply where to go. The usual cut throat competition will wait until Year 9,” Magoha recently said.

In six months, the current Grade Six learners are set to transition to Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).

Education officials

However, as parents and education officials mull over the troubles of the past, in two weeks they will be pressed to pay fees and cater for many other amenities the learners require as they troop back to school for the Second Term.

During the term, Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan urged secondary school principals to be lenient to students whose parents do not have the required amount of money for boarding secondary education.

“They should agree with parents on how they pay fees balances on schedule,” Jwan urged principals.

The parents were however urged not to take advantage of the situation and ensure they clear their fee balances in good time.

Second Term is to run for another 10 weeks, with schools expected to take a break between August 6 and 13, the period for General Election and run up to September 10.

The ministry has assured there is no cause for alarm over the school calendar, despite the General Election being held in the middle of Second Term. Unlike the 2021 calendar, which had about 30 weeks, students will be expected to cover the curriculum in just about 26 weeks this year.

To cover much of the syllabus, especially for the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates call for teachers to develop an elaborate schedule to cover as much as possible within the available time.

According to the revised calendar developed to cover the 9-month break brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Term One commenced on April 25 and will end tomorrow. Term 3 is scheduled for September 26 up to November 25.

This will then pave the way for KCPE, which is to run from November 28 to December 1 while the KCSE will run for three weeks from December 1 to 23.

As the country prepares for the General Election, learning institutions are also rushing against time to cover most of their syllabus. Most learning institutions have adjusted their learning programs accordingly in an attempt to compensate for the election break since most of the schools are used as polling or tallying centres.

Some schools have initiated special learning schedules for makeup classes, especially for examination classes, to cover the time that will be taken for electoral activities.