President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Cabinet adopted Education CS George Magoha's crash program, commencing the start of the phased reopening of Kenyan schools.
Magoha directed Grade Four, Class 8 and Form Four students to report to schools on Monday, October 12.
"The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) will start on March 22, 2021, and end on March 24, 2021. The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams will follow, starting on March 25, 2021, and ending on April 16, 2021," he said in a statement.
The Cabinet was forced to resort to an early resumption of education activities as it worked towards averting any potential crisis that would occur in the coming years.
Commencing classes in January 2021 would have seen some students repeat classes. This would have pressurised the government to create further mitigation strategies.
The transition of Grade Four students in 2022 would also have been hampered. These students are pioneers of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and are poised to join Junior Secondary School after completing Grade Six.
In the same year, Class Seven students under the old 8-4-4 system would also be joining Form One. The Cabinet pushed at avoiding double intake in High Schools.
Kenyatta was also well informed on the challenges facing students at home, ranging from increased hopelessness among learners, increasing cases of pregnancies, drug abuse, forced marriages, female genital mutilations and child labor.
The Constitution dictates that the Ministry would always protect students from such vices.
With the economy nearing a full reopening, resumption of activity in bars and clubs also placed students at risk and affected their safety at homes.
On August 20, the World Health Organisation (WHO) argued that most children were suffering in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The body urged the Ministry of Education to recall students.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) lauded the government for heeding to calls to reopen schools.
