President William Ruto has directed the Ministry of Education to postpone the reopening of all schools until further notice, as announced during his national address on Friday.
“The Ministry of Education is directed to postpone the dates of reopening of all schools in the country for the second term until further notice,” stated the President.
This directive comes just days before schools were scheduled to reopen on May 6, having initially been set for reopening on April 29. The reopening was delayed by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu due to heavy rains on Monday morning, which caused severe flooding in some areas.
Machogu emphasized that sending students and staff to affected schools would risk their lives, given the current conditions. “The devastating effects of the rains in some of the schools are so severe that it will be imprudent to risk the lives of learners and staff before water-tight measures are put in place to ensure adequate safety of all affected school communities,” he stated.
In a circular dated May 2 addressed to all regional, county, and sub-county education directors, Machogu outlined directives and measures to be implemented ahead of the May 6 reopening. However, he noted that severely affected schools would remain closed for the time being.
“In the meantime, the management of these schools should come up with strategies to recover lost time when learning resumes,” he added.
Machogu also highlighted concerns regarding the safety of school infrastructure, especially sanitation facilities, stating, “In some cases, the school infrastructure may be unsafe for use by learners thereby affecting their readiness to resume learning, especially on sanitation facilities.”
He instructed all school Boards of Management to submit status reports detailing damages caused by the rains and mitigation measures to County Education Boards by May 8, 2024. County Education Boards have until May 10 to submit comprehensive reports to the Cabinet Secretary.
