Magoha Faces Defiance on School Reopening

Education CS George Magoha releasing KCPE 2020 exams at Mitihani house in Nairobi
Education CS George Magoha releasing KCPE 2020 exams at Mitihani house in Nairobi
Twitter

Several private schools have defied the directive issued by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha on the resumption of learning for Grade Four students.

Grade Four students were directed to report back to school on Monday, July 26 as per the directive issued by Magoha.

However, the private schools have told the students to report back to school on  Wednesday, May 12.

CS Magoha supervising KCSE exams at St Pauls Agenga School in Migori County on March 26, 2021.
CS Magoha supervising KCSE exams at St Pauls Agenga School in Migori County on March 26, 2021.
Twitter

"After consultations, we have seen it fit for them to report back to school on May 12 to ensure we keep them engaged with normal learning," read a message sent to parents from Garden Estate Academy in Nairobi.

The Ministry of Education had directed the students to stay at home to allow other grades to complete their third term as well as maintain the social distance policy issued by the Ministry of Health.

Grade Four, along with Grade eight and Form four candidates, completed their syllabus last term during the first phase of reopening.

A section of parents faulted the private schools for the move citing that they were not consulted. They noted that the schools ought to follow the clear guidelines stipulated by the education ministry.

Some parents also complained that the schools are taking advantage of the long break issued to the students to exploit them.

"We had not been consulted and it elicited a lot of concerns with some parents supporting the school while some of us are opposed," a parent spoke to Nation

The news comes as the private school owners had raised concerns over the new secondary school placement system unveiled by the Ministry of Education. They cited that the new formula showed favoritism towards public school students.

Magoha noted that the ministry would replace the previous model by only conducting one selection and placement exercise as opposed to allowing parents and candidates to select preferred schools during the second round phase.

This new formula, the private schools pointed out, would affect students who had scored below 350 marks as most of these students found school slots during the second phase of selection.

f
KCPE students sitting national exams in 2019
File