Education CS George Magoha on Wednesday, September 9, addressed the reports on early school reopening.
While assessing the preparedness of Pwani University, the CS who had earlier stated that schools could reopen as early as September maintained that the government's position on the dates remained, January 2021.
"That position has not changed. However, we may relook the reopening dates depending on how the virus behaves," he stated.
The education CS blamed the media for misrepresenting his words on the reopening of schools stating that the changing dates made him appear indecisive.
“The media has made me look like someone who did not go to school. They have made me look like a person who flip-flops; someone who says this today, and says that tomorrow," Magoha told journalists.
The CS further revealed that the government had set aside Ksh1.9 billion for the making of new desks which would facilitate social distancing once formal learning resumes.
“I have instructed all the 47 county commissioners to come to Nairobi and take a design of the prototype back to their respective counties so that the desk designs can be replicated at the sub-county level,” he conveyed.
During previous assessments, the CS has gone on to reveal details of schools reopening giving different dates with each address.
In July 7, 2020, the Ministry of Education announced that the 2020 academic year would be considered lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic, hence, all primary and secondary schools would reopen in January 2021.
He later went on to issue the possibility of reopening in November 2020 if the positivity rate dropped below 5% and should Covid-19 measures be adopted by the learning institutions across the country.
On August 28, in Makueni county, Prof Magoha alerted parents to brace themselves for earlier school resumption dates if the Coronavirus (Covid-19) curve flattens in the next two or three weeks.
"We really must get our children to schools. We want to see whether we can reopen earlier and the conditions will determine," Magoha alerted.
The Education CS has, however, maintained that the final decision lay with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
