Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof George Magoha has confirmed to parents, guardians, and other stakeholders of education that the reopening of schools will proceed as planned on the 10th of May 2021.
The CS was addressing concerns among many Kenyans that the third wave of COVID-19 could affect the reopening of schools more so institutions of basic education once the holidays end.
The CS was speaking while in Kiambu County on Monday where he supervised the opening of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations container. The CS assured Kenyans that the current data shows a decline in COVID-19 infections across the country.
“I’m hoping that since it looks like the pandemic is going to flatten, there is no need for me to summon stakeholders as the timetable is likely to remain the same for the rest of the year,” said CS Magoha.
The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results are also set to be released within a week or so to allow for timely selection for form ones.
This is after the Ministry of Education revealed that the marking of ‘Insha’ and ‘Composition’ papers that contribute forty percent in the final Kiswahili and English papers respectively has been completed.
On March 26, 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed cessation of movement in five counties as the COVID-19 outbreak’s third wave encroaches on Kenyans.
In the new directive, the counties of Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu, and Nakuru have been barred any in and out movements from those counties.
“You can therefore move freely within the five counties, you will not however be able to leave and enter the One Zoned rea,” Nzioka Waita, Chief of Staff at the office of the President said via Twitter.
The current rate of new infections from the novel coronavirus in Kenya has hit a rate of 22% compared to 2% in January.
The most recent statistics indicate a positivity rate of 11.8% within the country’s cumulative positive cases at 145,670.
The rate of positivity is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those divide by those who have been tested.