State to release funds, masks to learners on Thursday - Magoha

 

The Government has already disbursed funds to run public primary schools, Education CS George Magoha has said.

The CS, however, did not say the amount of money already released to the primary schools.

“The money should be in schools today or tomorrow,” he said in Kisumu on Wednesday.

The secondary schools' funds will also reach the schools on Thursday.

Magoha announced that Sh13 billion has been disbursed for secondary schools.

“As far as we are concerned the schools are going to get money,” the CS said.

Magoha, accompanied by Vocational and Technical Training Principal Secretary Julius Jwan, was inspecting the level of preparedness at Kisumu National Polytechnic.

He expressed satisfaction at the level of Covid-19 preparedness by the institution in readiness to resume learning.

The institution has more than 10,000 students.

In a shocking move that caught parents and candidates off guard, Magoha on Wednesday directed all KCPE and KCSE candidates to report back to school next week.

The CS defended the move, saying it was in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive and followed broad-based education stakeholders consultations.

Also to return to school will be learners in Grade 4, the pioneer class of the new education curriculum that was rolled out by the government in 2018.

The learners return to school two weeks after teachers reported to put in place various Ministry of Health measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The phased reopening for Grade 4, Class 8 and Form 4 learners means six other classes in primary school, as well as three in secondary, will have to wait a bit longer before knowing when they will resume face-to-face learning.

This year's national examinations will also be altered by Magoha's order, with the KCPE tests set to be done from March 22-24, 2021.

The 2020 KCSE candidates will sit their exams between March 25 and April 16 next year after the government unveiled a crash academic calendar.

Marking of the KCSE exams will be for three weeks from April 19 to May 7, 2021.

In the radical changes, the government has scrapped the usual midterm breaks that would have seen learners interrupt studies for a week this term.

The second term holiday has been shortened and will now run between December 23, 2020, and January 3, 2021.

Magoha said his ministry will work closely with the Health ministry to continuously monitor adherence to the guidelines in order to determine when to reopen for all other learners in primary and secondary schools.