Government To Release Funds And Face Masks To Public Schools

By Getrude Matayo

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said the government has already disbursed funds to run public primary schools. He added that they will also issue free face-mask to needy students and pupils

The CS Magoha, however, did not say the amount of money already released to the primary schools. He urged parents and teachers to ensure that their students have bought their own mask when school resumes.

The Education Cabinet Secretary was speaking at the Kisumu National Polytechnic on Wednesday during a tour to ascertain whether the institution is ready for the phased reopening.

The secondary schools’ funds will also reach the schools on Thursday. Magoha announced that 13 billion shillings has been disbursed for secondary schools.

Prof George Magoha said the decision to reopen the school for three classes will be used as a guideline in observing how the situation unfolds.

He expressed satisfaction at the level of Covid-19 preparedness by the institution in readiness to resume learning. The institution has more than 10,000 students.

He said that if the model works, the Ministry will conduct thorough consultations after which all classes will resume in-person learning.

In a statement, Prof Magoha said the progressive re-opening will begin with students in Grade 4, Class Eight, and Form four who are expected back to school from Monday

The learners return to school two weeks after teachers reported to put in place various Ministry of Health measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The phased reopening for Grade 4, Class 8, and Form 4 learners mean six other classes in primary school, as well as three in secondary, will have to wait a bit longer before knowing when they will resume face-to-face learning

The KCPE exam will be conducted for three days between March 22-March 24^th 2021 while the Form Four candidates are set to write their KCSE test from March 25^th-April 16^th 2021 according to an exam calendar released by the Ministry of Education.

Marking of the KCSE exams will be for three weeks from April 19 to May 7, 2021. In the radical changes, the government has scrapped the usual midterm breaks that would have seen learners interrupt studies for a week this term.

The Ministry of Education has instructed all schools to ensure mandatory use of face masks, monitoring of body temperature for all learners, staff, and all persons accessing the schools, handwashing, and observance of high levels of hygiene.