Education experts have offered solutions to Education CS George Magoha over the repetition of classes by students after schools reopen.
With schools closed since March 15, Magoha stated that all learners in grade 1 to 4, Standard 5 to 7, and Form One to Three will remain in the current classes if schools reopen in 2021.
There will be two Form One classes according to Magoha. After the disease is controlled, Magoha said the academic calendar can be readjusted and the curriculum covered with the effects of the Covid-19 in mind.
On August 2020, he affirmed that schools may reopen before 2021 if the Covid-19 curve flattens and Kenya records a positivity rate of 5% for two consecutive weeks.
Professor Kimani Njogu, an education expert based at Kenyatta University, Nairobi stated that students should not be directed to repeat the grades they were in before the academic calendar was scrapped off.
"The one-year loss will have lasting psychological effects on the learners. Content not covered in the past grade can be covered in the new grade. Students should not be tortured more by subjecting them to the same class as Covid-19 has already affected them," Njogu stated.
He added that the Education system is already burdened by the Competence-Based Curriculum reforms and dragging the matter post Covid-19 will escalate the issue.
The CBC reforms require Grades 7,8,9 to be based in secondary schools. The Education Ministry directed that Grade 6 students will not sit for national exams to ensure a smooth transition. With two Form One classes, if studies resume in 2021, Grades, 7,8, and 9 would not have space to be domiciled.
With private schools seemingly facing closure, the expert added that the situation may cripple the Education Sector and heap pressure on public schools if not rectified. Students may not be able to repeat classes after a mass transfer from private to public schools.
"Our teachers can adjust and adopt a new culture. They can adjust to the curriculum and cover what was missed out while also teaching the new curriculum. Final students lessons can be based on revisions before they sit exams," the analyst added.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Secretary-General Akelo Misori on Wednesday, September 2 argued that the resumption of schools in 2019 would adversely affect the school calendar.
Misori highlighted that the second term would run until January 2021, which is a policy shifter. Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu urged him to allow candidates be tested for whatever they had covered in the syllabus until schools were closed due to the pandemic.
He noted that this would enable students to transition to the next classes whenever schools resume with the syllabus adjusted to cover for the two terms missed.
