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Learners could stay home for the rest of the year if pandemic persists


The Ministry of Education will in the next two weeks release possible scenarios in the school calendar in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha says the safety of the children is a priority even if it means pushing back the national examinations and re-opening of schools to next year.

FORTHCOMING EXAMS

Appearing before the National Assembly Education and Research committee on Thursday, Prof Magoha said the fate of the forthcoming exams will be decided by an inter-ministerial and not solely by his ministry.

“If children are going to stay at home for one year, so be it, because they are safe there. The exams can be done next year,” Magoha said.

Prof Magoha, who dissuaded the public from putting emphasis on national examinations, was however  non-committal on the opening dates, noting that that decision will be informed by how the pandemic behaves.

RE-OPENING DATES

“The behaviour of this disease is unpredictable. Do not ask me the specifics dates when we are going to re-open schools. The pandemic must be put under control first and is what will inform our decision in the two weeks when we give possible scenarios,” he said.

On Monday, Magoha said that the government is planning to shorten the second term and the August holidays as well as having longer learning hours in order to recover the learning period lost due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

Prof Magoha said to ensure completion of the syllabus within the scheduled time, the second term mid-term break will be shortened by four days and the August holiday by two weeks.

At the same time, he maintained that the government had not yet made plans to postpone national examinations.