Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen and his Nakuru counterpart Susan Kihika have hit out at Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha over the imminent resumption of learning.
The two Senators in separate statements on Wednesday, September 23, urged for other sectors of the economy to be fully reopened before the Ministry of Education could embark on reopening schools.
Kihika stressed that the 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew be lifted while firing at Magoha, questioning his 'rush' to reopen learning institutions.
"Does it make sense to reopen schools while 9 p.m. curfew stays in place due to the dangerous night owl virus?
"Churches, mosques, funerals, weddings etc. still restricted yet kids are hurriedly sent back to school? Could Magoha be this reckless or does he know something we don’t?" questioned Kihika.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, September 21, extended the curfew as he ought to host a national conference on the pandemic on Monday, September 28.
Murkomen on his part, argued that early reopening schools could have far-reaching effects as he advised on starting with other institutions.
"I don’t support the efforts to hurriedly re-open schools in October. First relax the rules applied on churches, mosques, temples, hotels, funerals, bars, political rallies and other social gatherings/places. Remove the 9 p.m. curfew. Starting with our kids is disastrous," he stated.
This comes with a backdrop of the Parliamentary Committee on National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) announcing that schools were not ready for reopening.
Speaking during their tour to Embakasi Central, NG-CDF Chairman Wafula Wamunyinyi raised concerns on how social distancing will be achieved.
"We are looking at preparedness. What are the institutions doing to prepare for the reopening of schools. The schools here are densely populated, the school with the least number of students is 2,000.
"They have to step up their efforts to get additional space, the sitting arrangement also needs to be improved to promote social distancing," said Wamunyinyi.
The Covid-19 Education Response Committee had settled on Monday, October 19, 2020, as the preferred school reopening date countrywide. But CS Magoha has stated that the recommendation will be subject to further review and that only the President would announce the definitive reopening date.
