Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA) Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndoro on Wednesday, September 23, revealed that at least 51,000 learners are stranded ahead of the imminent early reopening of schools.
Around 191 schools have written to KPSA notifying the association that they will not reopen after bearing the economic brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The private schools have indicated that they are not in a position to comply with the Ministry of Health and Education guidelines on the reopening of schools.
"So far from the statistics that we have is that by Monday, 191 private schools with about 51,000 students have indicated that they will not be able to reopen when learning resumes.
"This is because they do not have the money to put up the infrastructure that is required for the management of Covid-19," explained Ndoro.
The KPSA CEO said that some of the school owners had ventured into other business after the closure of schools to cushion themselves from the financial effects of Covid-19.
Students are not the only ones who stand to be affected by the closure of schools as 1,400 teaching and non-teaching staff have been rendered jobless.
Ndoro is however hopeful that the government will answer their pleas of being included in the economic stimulus package that will hand the schools a lifeline.
The biggest challenge for the 51,000 students is being absorbed into different schools with learning institutions grappling with social distancing enforcement and putting up new classrooms.
Ndoro, however, added that KPSA is working with the schools to ensure that the students are transferred to different institutions.
"Majority of the schools have been able to link up with other schools so that when the schools eventually reopen they have a place to go to.
"It is not that the schools have just closed and the learners have just been left on their own, there is a process that we have put in place to ensure that these learners do not get lost," he assured.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha on Monday, September 21, issued a directive to teachers to report to school by Monday, September 28.
