The indefinite postponement of the reopening of schools has exposed a wide class divide where children from humble backgrounds and who majorly attend public schools are going without learning as their counterparts from well-to-do families attend classes virtually.
Children from low-income backgrounds also form the majority of those affected by flooding through displacement and destruction of school infrastructure while some public schools are currently being used as camps for families rendered homeless by the deluge.
Learners in public primary schools are going without learning despite the government having spent over Sh32 billion to equip them with tablets, laptops, projectors, routers as well as connecting them to the national grid.
Thousands of teachers have also been trained on how to use digital equipment to deliver lessons online. Some public secondary schools have, however, initiated online classes for their learners.
But some teachers who spoke to Nation are unaware of the free eLearning resources available on the Kenya Education Cloud that is hosted at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development website. The content is for learners from pre-primary to Form 4.
It is still unclear when schools will reopen although an update is expected after county boards of education submit situation reports to the Ministry of Education this Friday. All boards of management should submit reports on the status of their schools by today.
The Nation has also established that a number of private schools have defied the government directive not to reopen schools due to safety concerns caused by the heavy rains and flooding in many parts of the country. School buses have been seen picking up and dropping off children in the mornings and evenings. The indefinite postponement was announced by President William Ruto on Friday.
“The new opening date for the school will be Wednesday, May 8, 2024. During this open week, classes will end at 2pm to ensure that students get home before the heavy afternoon rains that have been predicted. This decision has been made with the best interests of everyone in mind,” reads a communication to parents from a school in Nairobi County.
Learners in schools offering alternative curricula and which do not follow the national curriculum calendar have also continued with classes as it remains unclear whether the directive was applicable to public schools only.
“Out of lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided to keep our students engaged and informed the parents. Most parents have access to a smart phone or digital device that their children can use to learn. The turn-out is about 80 per cent. The teachers are willing to offer the classes at no charge since they’d have been in school, anyway,” said a principal of a secondary school from Nakuru County, who requested anonymity.
Learning is also going on in schools that had opened before the first postponement of reopening was announced by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu on April 29 2024.
“In the case of learners that had already reported to school, the school management shall retain them in school and ensure their safety and security, except only where the conditions allow for the safe return to homes,” Mr Machogu had said through a circular issued on Thursday last week.
Speaking to Nation on Sunday, Mr Machogu said that the term dates will be adjusted to recover the time lost. The CS was unavailable yesterday for a comment. Parents interviewed by Nation expressed concern over the uncertainty regarding the reopening of schools.
“I am anxious that the schools are taking too long to open. My daughter is in Form Three and prolonged idle times mean that she has more time to interact with peers and boys. Pregnancy and drug use is a real fear at this time. Also, with no definite opening times, it’s hard to plan on whether I should start her on tuition or as parents we should ask the school to start online classes for them,” said Phillys Nyambura, a parent from Nairobi.
The Digital Learning Programme (DLP) is implemented in phases. Phase I targets learners in Grade 1 to 3, Phase II targets learners in Grade 4 to 6 and Phase III targets those Grade 7 and above.
Under the programme, 21,651 schools out of the targeted 21,772 primary schools across the country have been supplied with the digital equipment. However, they majorly remain unused while some have been damaged or lost.
According to data from DigiSchool, each school received two laptops for use by teachers, learner devices based on enrolment, one router and a projector. Some schools received hard drives but these were not distributed to all schools.
“Whenever education officials visit schools, they demand to be shown the devices, so we keep them safely in the metal boxes they provided. We hardly use them because we were told that if they ever get spoilt, we will be surcharged,” a teacher told the Nation.
