The Ministry of Education has issued the guidance on the safe reopening of schools which is scheduled to commence on Monday 6th May 2024. The reopening of schools was pushed further by one week after assessing the situation that has been there in relation to the heavy rains and floods that have been witnessed in different parts of the country.
The following are some of the measures that have been put in place by the Ministry of Education to guarantee the learners and the staff safety:
- Learners and Staff Access to Schools
Many parts of the country have been hit hard with the floods and some roads are even impassable. Parents have been urged that they should make sure that their children are safe when going to school.
- Schools Hosting Displaced Persons
There are several learning institutions which have provided shelter for the families who have been displaced by floods from their homes. This therefore means that students cannot learn in such environments with those families hosted there.
The Ministry of Education has put its field Education Officers to liaise with the National Government Administration Officers to identify alternative accommodation facilities so that the schools can be ready for resumption of studies on Monday.
- Schools Affected by Floods
Several schools have also been affected by the floods and some of the infrastructure has been destroyed and it is almost impossible for learning to take place in such schools.
The Field Education Officers have been given the following tasks to ensure that learning is not disrupted at all:
- They are to ensure resource sharing among the neighboring schools
- Ensure use of multi grade and multi-shift mode of learning
- Where the learning can totally not take place, the Boards of Management have been advised to keep the schools closed until a solution to the problem is found.
- School Infrastructure
The Principals and the Board of Management have been urged not to expose the learners and staff to infrastructure which may be damaged and may pose health threats such as contamination especially the infrastructure related to sanitation.
5. Directions of the Ministry of Education
- All Boards of Managements to convene meetings and submit their reports to the County Education Boards in regards to the status of their schools. They should submit the reports by 8th May 2024.
- County Education Boards to convene a meeting and present a comprehensive report on the situation of the schools and submit that report to the Cabinet Secretary of Education by 10th May 2024.The Regional Directors of Education to continually give updates on the status of the schools
- Heads of the Learning Institutions to give reports on:The number learners who are not in school because of transportation issues because of inaccessibility of the schools.
- The number learners who are not in school due to the effects of the weather conditions on their families
- The number of learners who are internally displaced because of the floods.