Education Cabinet Secretary, George Magoha, has dispelled reports and demands to postpone the national examinations and extending term dates following a disruption occasioned by the just concluded General Election.
Speaking on Thursday, August 18, Magoha noted that the national examinations - the Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education (KCSE) and Kenya Certificate for Primary Education (KCPE) - will be administered as per the schedule in November.
He explained that the polls had caused minimal interruption to the school calendar, which cannot warrant the extension of the school term.
"Our children are extremely resilient. Quite a number of them had completed their syllabuses. They have enough time to revise and their safety is of importance," Magoha explained.
Nicholas Maiyo, the chairperson of the National Parents Association, had requested Magoha to extend the school term due to the disruption caused by the elections.
Parents, through their representatives, had also called for reducing school fees if the terms are not extended.
"Schools were to open on August 11, but this was pushed to August 18. Our appeal is that the school calendar be extended or if it is not possible, they reduce the school fees," Maiyo appealed to Magoha.
The second term ends on September 16, when learners will close for just one week before reporting back for the third term of the 2022 academic year.
This will end the two-year crash programme occasioned by the pandemic interruption of 2020. The regular school calendar will resume in January 2023.
Maiyo further asked the government, through the Ministry of Transport led by Cabinet Secretary, James Macharia, to regulate the public service vehicles (PSV) sector after a section of the operators hiked fares during school resumption on Thursday, August 18.
This is after parents protested fare increases in most routes forcing them to dig deeper into their pockets to take their kids back to school.
"We want to appeal to the government to take stern action against matatu saccos taking advantage to increase fares," Maiyo added.
National Police Service (NPS) assured parents that students will be accorded security upon returning to school.
On the other hand, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) asked matatu operators to adhere to traffic rules to avoid road accidents.
