9-member team appointed to COVID-19 education response committee

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has appointed a 9-member committee to advise on how to restore normalcy in the Education sector in light of the far-reaching effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The committee will be holed at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and chaired by The Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development Chairperson Dr. Sarah Ruto.

The members of the committee include among others Indimuli Kahi (Chairman, Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association), Nicholas Gathemia (Chairman, Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association) , Peter Ndoro (CEO, Kenya Private Schools Association) and Nicholas Maiyo (Chairman, Kenya Parents Association).

The committee which has already begun working will be tasked with:

1. Advising the Cabinet Secretary on the reopening of Basic Education institutions (Pre-Primary. Primary, Secondary Schools, Teacher Training Colleges and Adult Education Institutions.)

2. Reviewing and reorganizing the school calendar as part of the COVID-19 post recovery strategy.

3. Advising the Cabinet Secretary on ways of onboarding students/pupils when the schools re-open.

4. Documenting all COVID-19 related matters, lessons learnt and recommendations for future preparedness.

5. Advising the Cabinet Secretary on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for education by poor households and suggest mitigation measures.

6. Advising the Cabinet Secretary on the Health and Safety measures to be put in place for the pupils/students, teachers and entire school community.

7. Identifying  institutions that may have been adversely affected by COVID-19 and advise on mitigation and recovery measures.

8. Submitting regular reports to the Cabinet Secretary on the implementation progress of COVID-19 related programmes.

9. Any other related duty that may be assigned by the Cabinet Secretary

The latest comes days after CS Magoha ruled out the possibility of schools re-opening in June given the worsening coronavirus situation in the country.

“We have said that children should enjoy their holidays and that schools shall remain closed effective 4th of this month (May) up to 4th of next month (June).” the CS said.

Kenya has so far recorded 715 cases of the coronavirus.

And although a definite school re-opening date has not been arrived at, CS Magoha has expressed optimism that the KCPE and KCSE exams will go on as planned asking parents to allow their kids enjoy their holidays.