How parents can keep their children busy for six months

Parents will have to find creative and productive ways of engaging children in the next six months following the extension of schools’ closure till January 2021.

They have to take charge of their children’s learning and find better ways of keeping them engaged and away from mischief and misadventures. This is the new reality for parents who have always relied on schools to take care of their children for nine months every year.

The Nation Tuesday conducted interviews with a cross-section of education stakeholders, who stated that the burden was shifting to parents, who now have to deal with physical, psycho-social and spiritual well-being of their children. The parents have to help learners cope and adjust to the prolonged closure of schools.

Those interviewed were representatives of teachers’ unions, headteachers’ and parents’ associations and leaders of religious organisations, who asked parents to support their children to get onto the ongoing virtual learning programmes offered by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

NEW SURVEY

At the same time, they called on parents to use this period to teach children life skills and help them to identify and nurture their talents.

This came as the government released findings of a new survey on the impact of Covid-19 that indicated that 57.5 per cent of school and college students were engaged in self-learning.

Some 21.8 per cent were going through home-schooling, which is an organised and parent or guardian-supported learning at the household level.

However, the Survey on Socio-economic Impact on Covid-19 on households Report, which was released by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, says 17 per cent of the learners are not learning at all.

SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT

This was a slight improvement from an earlier survey conducted in May that showed that 24.6 per cent had not received any learning.

Then, just 48.2 per cent reported to be engaged in online learning. But the challenge remains that a segment of the learners is not accessing any educational material.

According to the stakeholders, parents should sensitise their children on the Covid-19 safety protocols, including keeping personal hygiene, washing hands, use of face masks and social distancing.

Second, parents should involve their children in practical engagements such as farming or domestic chores.

However, the stakeholders cautioned against exposing children to paid labour. They also urged parents to protect the children from vices such as drug and substance abuse and teenage pregnancies.

VIRTUAL LEARNING

Currently, KICD offers virtual learning programmes through television, radio and online, but which are not accessible to all learners, especially those in rural areas and urban slums, and where households do not have electricity and the gadgets for receiving the content.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Wilson Sossion, while acknowledging the challenge facing parents given that many have lost jobs and have no incomes, argued that taking care of the children during this prolonged school closure falls squarely on the hands of those parents.

“Since many parents are now staying at home, they should create some time to show their children some practical things to do such as helping with household chores or where applicable, work with them in the farm,” he said.

FAMILIES IN SLUMS

However, he acknowledged that families living in slums will be hard-pressed to provide the support and therefore called for support from organised groups in neighbourhoods, including faith-based.

The chairman of Kenya National Parents Association, Nicholas Maiyo, said his organisation was organising programmes at the county and local levels to sensitise parents on what to do to support children, among them having community-based social activities while observing the health protocols.

The chairman of the Kenya Primary Schools Headteachers Association Nicholas Gathemia asked parents to support children with learning activities, saying those households with TV sets and smartphones could use radio.

Dr Nelson Makanda of the National Council of Churches of Kenya called on teachers to support learners within their localities. He also challenged the media to provide more educative programmes to engage the children.

LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS

But the challenge remains in low-income households in urban and rural areas, where parents have to look for incomes to sustain their families. Moreover, in many cases the threat is safety of children because of the prevalence of sex predators targeting young girls and drug peddlers.

Early this week, Education CS George Magoha announced extended closure of schools till January next year to insulate learners from Covid-19. This annulled an earlier plan that had sought to reopen the schools in September.

However, the ministry announced that universities and technical training institutions would reopen in September but subject to enforcing the safety protocols stipulated by the Health Ministry.