Bridge Academy (Kenya), has sent hundreds of teachers and staff on forced leave.
The Daily Nation was first to report the development on Friday, March 27, adding that the teachers had also been told to consider their leave as a temporary layoff.
A source at the school confirmed to Kenyans.co.ke, that the school was forced to make that decision due to the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on its day to day operations.
"The teachers will be on leave starting next month. The decision was prompted by the fact that the Covid-19 issue has affected everyone so the company is not in a position to help anyone.
"You do understand that everyone is not working and the parents are also not paying fees during this difficult period," she stated.
She further clarified that the decision by the school's management was temporary as communicated, but that once the pandemic had been controlled, the matter would be up for review.
"So far the only clear period where everyone is not working is for two months till the end of May, based on the communication issued. If anything happens after that, there will be communication," she explained.
The notice doesn't mean that the teachers and the members of staff had been permanently dismissed, but that it was just a temporary measure to protect the business.
"It is not necessarily the end of the road for the teachers and members of staff. This is something that is affecting everyone, not only in the country but globally, so as at now, the only timeline is until May," she concluded.
The academy was forced to send its students home following the order by President Uhuru Kenyatta on March 15, 2020, calling for all schools to be closed as a measure against the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has since then been providing tailored weekly lesson plans for the students to learn at home all the way from baby class to Standard Eight.
Bridge International Academies is a group of schools that operates in Africa and India where there is a shortage of learning institutions, by boosting government schools or running complementary community schools.
