The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) on Sunday, October 4, questioned the Ministry of Education's directive that they prepare timetables that will be used once the schools are reopened.
The union Secretary General Wilson Sossion reiterated that the only way to implement the directive would be after a specific date was set for the actual reopening.
“Teachers go to school to work. With no learners around, they are only there to prepare for safe reopening,” he remarked.
This follows the recent notice to school heads issued by the Teachers Service Commission asking them to have tutors prepare timetables and schemes of work.
Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman Kahi Indimuli echoed Sossion's sentiments and added that they were waiting for directions from the Ministry on the actual school calendar.
“Lesson plans cannot be made without a schedule," he detailed.
His colleague and Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (Kepsha) chairman Nicholas Gathemia was of a similar opinion, going on to urge the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to issue clear guidelines on the content teachers need to start preparing for before schools reopen.
"We need to know the duration of the lessons, and how many lessons per day and per week will be possible under the new health protocols," he reiterated.
The latest latest development comes at a time when directives regarding the reopening of schools have received mixed reactions.
On May 6, Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha clarified that schools would not reopen in June 2020, as it had been earlier anticipated given the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.
More recently, primary and secondary school teachers were ordered to return to school by Monday, September 28, in preparation for the eventual reopening of learning institutions.
However, in his latest address to the nation, President Uhuru Kenyatta made it clear that the decision to reopen learning institutions was not finalised, and that it was a move which would be dictated by the Covid-19 situation in the country.
