Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha's decision to abandon the full school reopening plans has exposed learning institutions to a new crisis.
Class 8 candidates are set to sit for their KCPE exams from March 22, 2021 to March 24, 2021 with a huge accommodation challenge now facing secondary schools.
Form 1 students are currently at home and are yet to complete term one meaning when learning institutions reopen in January as earlier planned, schools are bound to have two Form one classes.
According to the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec), 1,187,517 candidates were registered in 2020 for KCPE exams forming the highest number ever recorded in the country.
The current Form 1 class comprises about one million learners meaning that classes will be overcrowded when the KCPE class of 2020 proceeds to Form 1.
Another challenge facing schools is in the pre-primary one classes where an estimated 1.5 million learners are expected to enrol in various institutions for the first time.
The current class is yet to complete the first term making it hard for them to transition into the next class when schools fully reopen.
Magoha on Sunday, October 25 announced that the government has shelved plans to fully reopen schools after the country recorded a spike in Covid-19 cases.
"Those classes that were not opened before, should remain closed until the government advises otherwise.
"I hope that the government has made itself very clear on this one. If you do not abide, there shall be consequences," stated Magoha.
The second term, in which students were expected to start when schools reopen, usually takes 13 weeks to cover as Grade 4, Standard 8 and Form 4 resumed in-person learning on Monday, October 12.
Only eight weeks are left till Christmas when the students currently in school are expected to break before resuming classes in 2021.
