Kenya: Parents decry high cost of living as schools’ re-open

Africa/Kenya/07-01-2022/Author: Source: www.kbc.co.ke

The business community and parents in Narok town have decried a high cost of living as children re-open schools for the third term.

Many parents were forced to do minimum shopping for their children as they lamented of hiked prices of essential commodities like sanitary goods and stationery.

Joyce Naeni, a mother of four said despite her heavy savings, she could not afford all the commodities she needed for her children who are in classes eight, seven, grade five and grade three who school at Blessed Narok academy in Narok town.

“I used to spend Ksh 5, 000 to buy essential goods for my children, however, the prices of these commodities have increased and I am forced to do the same shopping with Ksh 10, 000,” she said.

Johnston Sadera, who owns a uniform shop in Narok Tsaid he had calculated of making profits during this season that schools are opening but was wrong as only a few customers knocked at his doorsteps.

Sadera said he is opting for other options like farming to make money as he could not rely on his uniform shop to earn a living.

“This year is so different from other years. Before, I used to make a lot of money in the month of January. I will be forced to venture into different activities where I can earn a living,” said the businessman.

Rose Moraa, a mother of three secondary school children asked the Ministry of Education to allow all children in school, even those who had not cleared school fees saying it is hard for her to afford the school fees of her three children at once.

Ms Moraa who hawks tea and snacks in Narok town called on well-wishers to help support those bright but poor children to complete their education.

A spot check on the transport sector indicated that the Matatus had hiked fares to various towns making the parents dig deeper into their pockets to have the children go back to school.

At the Narok Line bus stop that operates between Narok and Nairobi, the fare had been increased from Ksh 400 to Ksh 600 owing to the many passengers who had queued to travel.

Source and Image: https://www.kbc.co.ke/parents-decry-high-cost-of-living-as-schools-re-open/

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Kenya: CS Magoha: Social distancing in schools will be a challenge

Africa/Kenya/28-06-2020/Author and Source: www.kbc.co.ke

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has acknowledged that social distancing in schools will be a major challenge ahead of the planned September re-opening.

Speaking in Kitui County Textile Centre (KICOTEC) on Wednesday, Magoha said the existing infrastructure in schools will not support such a recommendation given the learner population.

Magoha, however, said teachers will be required to report two weeks before reopening as part of the new measures to necessitate specialized training on management of COVID-19.

On students, the CS said the government will ensure schools get 24 million masks by September so that each child gets at least two.

“The government will procure 24 million face masks from government institutions of Rivatex, Kicotec and the National Youth Service (NYS) for school children ahead of September re-opening.”

“Once we agree on the prototype, then we will get the pricing so that when schools open in September, face masks will be in the institutions by mid-August as per the presidential directive,” Prof Magoha added.

“Every school will be required to also have thermal guns for temperature checks,” he said.

These are part of the measures that will have to be put in place in schools as the country grapples with the virus.

The minimum requirements upon reopening have been outlined as clean running water and soap for handwashing or hand sanitizers.

The institutions will also be required to sanitise often-touched surfaces such as doorknobs, light switches and stair railings with disinfectants.

In March, the government closed all schools in a bid to avert the unrestrained spread of COVID-19.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on June 1 asked the Education and Health ministries to chart the path towards reopening learning institutions.

Kenya has so far reported 5,206 cases of COVID-19, 130 fatalities and 1,823 recoveries since March 13, when the first local case was announced.

Source and Image: https://www.kbc.co.ke/cs-magoha-social-distancing-in-schools-will-be-a-challenge/

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Kenya: Our focus is not on reopening schools, says CS Magoha

Africa/Kenya/31-05-2020/Author: Margaret Kalekye/Source: www.kbc.co.ke

The Ministry of Education has cautioned against the rush to reopen schools during this coronavirus pandemic.

Education Cabinet Secretary Friday hinted at pushing again the reopening of schools considering the rising number of coronavirus infections. Kenya has 1,618 cases, with 147 reported Thursday.

“You have seen the numbers this week and last week. Who would take their child to school? Let us agree that a child who is alive and well at home is better than a child who attempts an exam and dies there. If it means learners starting the year again so be it,” said the CS.

While speaking after receiving an interim report of the Covid-19 National Education Response Education committee, the CS maintained that the health and safety of learners and teachers remains a priority and not national exams.

Magoha says their primary focus is to come up with strong mitigation measures that will be required in schools once they reopen based on recommendations of the committee and health ministry.

Magoha will be tabling the proposals contained in the report before the national emergency response committee this weekend for further consultations.

” The Ministry recognises that the process of reopening schools will not be a switch-on-switch-off affair, but a rather carefully thought out and methodical process that must guarantee safety and health of all learners, teachers and staff”.

He said his office will be giving updates on the current situation regarding the education sector based on the advice of the Ministry of Health.

While citing the southern US which has reported an upsurge of cases after reopening the economy, Magoha said no number of deaths is comfortable and appealed for calm as the government monitors the situation.

The ministry had set June 4 as the tentative opening date, pending the advice of the committee and the Ministry of Health.

Magoha clarified that the goal of the nine-member committee set up last month to advise the government on the school calendar is the safety of learners.

“We have done various simulations. Let us remain sober and take into account the fact that there are places that have rushed to reopen and are dealing with an upsurge. Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. This not a Kenyan problem. We have seen what is happening in the world to learn from. Which is the comfortable number of deaths and the answer is zero” he posed.

He added “The goal of this committee is not about closing or reopening schools the goal was to ensure the children are safe. Their sole determination will remain on what is happening here and the Ministry of health”

Magoha took a swipe at parents for treating children as a burden. He reminded parents of their shared responsibility with schools to ensure children continue to learn.

“It is should be clear for all and sundry. This disease is here to stay, but for now, all stakeholders must be prepared. The abrogation of responsibility by parents must be revised. There is a lot to learn in life apart from mathematics. It must start with the family. It’s an opportune time to strengthen parenting” he said.

He assured that the school calendar will apply to all learners equally regardless of their statuses.

“From Mukuru to Muthaiga learners will have the same facilities and the same rights. The issue of transition and mega issue of CBC must go hand in hand”.

On the stand-off between parents and private schools, the CS called for negotiations bearing in mind that the schools need money to run or they will be forced to shut which is unfair.

“Private schools employs over 160,000 teachers. To keep the schools alive, we must have a humane face. Let us be reasonable the staff must be paid. If they collapse it is the government that will deal with the burden because the children will come to public schools”.

Source and Image: https://www.kbc.co.ke/our-focus-is-not-on-reopening-of-schools-says-cs-magoha/

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Back to school, back to normality? Dilemmas in high-income countries

There seemed no doubt when schools closed earlier this year that closures were a necessary response to the pandemic. The question is whether that reasoning has sufficiently subsided for the opening of school doors to be again acceptable. If groups of 10 people or more are being banned from assembling, how can classrooms of 15 students be allowed? If yesterday we were at risk of possible infection – and fatality – how, today, is it ok for students and teachers to group together in a school where social distancing is particularly hard to control? Policy makers, parents and teachers all have strong but conflicting views.

There are multiple approaches to opening schools in high-income countries at the moment. In Denmark and Norway, some schools and creches have already reopened. One cost-effective approach to the problem is to teach outside, something that Denmark is doing, as this eye-opening photo series shows. In Germany, the details of how schools will reopen are up to its 16 states to decide, but pupils in primary school are due to return to school in a staggered way, starting next week. France’s pre-primary schools are due to open on May 11 and other schools progressively from May 18.

In Australia, where schools are opening in New South Wales and Queensland, the staggered return will be handled differently by each school, with the hope that children will be able to go back full-time for the third term, which begins on July 20. The Government has said that families with multiple siblings should be prioritised and has suggested organising students by house colours, or alphabetically.

Parents in countries, such as France, have reacted with bemusement. If parents are confused about when their children can start school, so are teachers. The rules, regulations, and opening schedules, hours and provisions are seemingly different everywhere.

The core deciding factors for schools reopening are related to the timing, the conditions and the processes, says a resource paper by UNESCO on ‘Preparing the reopening of schools’. The conditions, however, are not always agreed upon. In France, for example, the government’s scientific committee advised keeping schools closed until September – advice which has not been taken. There appear to be conflicting findings as to whether children are as likely to transmit the virus or not, with some in Germany claiming they are, but others in Australia – cited by the Prime Minister when announcing schools were to reopen – claiming the opposite.

What we do know is that adults face the highest risks of coronavirus transmission, which means teachers are likely most at risk. The Australian Education Union, for example, is concerned by the prospect of schools reopening, saying that the report claiming children were not vectors of the virus “provides little clarity about how governments are going to ensure a safe working environment for teachers, principals and support staff”.

One of the main unions in France is equally as concerned about how this adds up, asking: “How can we avoid a new epidemic flare-up when almost 900,000 teachers and 12 million students are re-assembled in class?” In the United Kingdom, over 200,000 people have signed petition of NEU, the main education union, to “open schools when it is safe” with signatures climbing every day, including those of more than a quarter of head teachers in the country. The NEU also believes that “systematic testing and contact tracing needs to be operating fully and be accessible,” all part of regulated hygiene measures in school that Germany’s main teacher union described as a “mammoth task”.

In the United States, teacher unions are also warning that sending them into crowded schools without widespread testing is an unacceptable risk. The head of the union in New York City wrote last week that it won’t support a return without testing for all students and staff, daily temperature checks, and tracing of those have been in contact with someone showing symptoms. Reportedly 68 education department staff have died in the city. The leaders of the country’s two largest teachers’ unions said they wouldn’t rule out teachers strikes if schools reopened too soon. The head of the American Federation of Teachers, was reported saying that if school doors opened again without regulated hygiene measures in place, “you do everything you can to … use your public megaphones.”

In China, for instance, not only are all students wearing masks, but there are often glass dividers between desks and teachers have proper personal protective equipment. In the United States, teachers are meanwhile commenting on the amount of funds made available to improve the security of schools after the spate of school shootings, but the lack of anything similar in the face of today’s crisis.

In March 2020, UNESCO ran an online survey on education responses to COVID-19, which showed that the majority of MOEs are eager to reopen schools as soon as possible. But the core push-factor for sending children back to school, apart from its core role in helping children learn – and learn on a more equal footing – is economics. Brookings recently did some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations on how much it will cost to keep schools closed for four months, concluding that it would set the United States back $2.5 trillion—12.7% of GDP. No wonder the political urgency.

Although one teacher in France wrote in a recent opinion piece “I am not responsible for the logistical challenges of capitalism,” the fact is that schools are definitely part of the economic motor of society. The deciding factor has to be whether risk-mitigating measures are in place. These are listed in a new framework for re-opening schools produced by UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the World Food Programme. “The first condition for a successful transition to onsite education is meaninigful social and policy dialogue with educators and their unions,” David Edwards, General Secretary of Education International, told us for this blog. Teachers  are partners, not pawns, in this new phase. To get this wrong will see union movement, and potential further education interruption unfold.

The fear of these past few months as Covid-19 has taken over the world will no doubt take some time to get over. Hesitance to return back to normal too quickly is likely a normal reaction, therefore. Aside from the health factors at play, however, we have a real chance now to build back better, rather than to rush back to normal. It would be a wasted opportunity not to assess how to deliver education more inclusively, starting by a more considered re-entry into school from among the most vulnerable families, rather than on a first-come-first-served basis. The 2020 GEM Report on inclusion and education is prepped to be launched on 23 June. We are excited about sharing its messages with you all – messages that could not come at a better time.

Fuente: https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2020/05/05/back-to-school-back-to-normality-dilemmas-in-high-income-countries/

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