UPDATE: The Ministry of Education maintains that dates for mid-term break for all primary and secondary schools remain unchanged.
Schools were scheduled to release students between June 26 and June 28 and resume on June 30, 2024.
The Ministry of Education has allowed boarding schools to release their students for half term break beginning Monday, June 24.
This is an impromptu change to the school calendar. Earlier, the second term's half term break was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, June 26.
In a memo to school principals, the Ministry of Education explained that early departure is designed to give students and parents ample time to make travel plans ahead of the planned Finance Bill protests planned for Tuesday.
Some of the school principals, as a result, sent messages to parents notifying them to pick the students beginning today failure to which, they will only be able to pick students on Wednesday.
Students in day schools will be allowed to start their half term break after the close of the academic day today.
Since Tuesday last week, Kenyan citizens, the majority of whom are Gen Zs, have been taking to the streets to reject the Finance Bill 2024 proposals.
On Thursday last week, the protests erupted across the country cutting across cities and other towns among them Eldoret, Nanyuki, and Nyeri among others.
At the tail-end of May, the Ministry revised the half term dates for the second term to run between June 26 to June 30.
In a letter at the time, Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang noted that the change had been necessitated by the change of opening date after the impact of flooding.
"Following the disruption of the opening dates, it has been decided that the half-term dates for term two 2024 be revised," read the memo in part.
"The change may require adjustments on planned activities and schedules."
Before the flooding, the calendar had spelt out that the half-term period would last between June 20 to June 23. At the time, school reopening had been scheduled for Monday, April 29 before Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu postponed the dates.
