On the 12th March 2020, Kenya, through the Ministry of Health, confirmed the first COVID-19 case and since then, different spheres of society have been dramatically affected Including the Education sector. As
fate would have it, on March 15, 2020, the Cabinet Secretary for education Prof George Magoha ordered the closure of schools and colleges as one of the measures taken in order to limit the spread of the deadly virus.
Fast forward, on July 7th, Prof. Magoha again announced that the 2020 school calendar year would be considered lost due to COVID-19 restrictions. This announcement came at a time where the country was set
to implement the new competency-based curriculum, therefore, throwing the whole process into limbo while affecting over 18 million students across the country.
Education is important for both children and parents. It gives a student a chance to develop, grow, and shape themselves for a brighter future. Consequently, missing out on learning could have negative impacts
on the developmental stages and milestones for a student especially the young ones. The move by the Education ministry meant that students would repeat the entire school year and would graduate a year later
than what was anticipated.
Remote Learning
In a bid to eliminate loss of essential learning time and ensure that learning continues, the government through the ministry of Education and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KIDC) put out
programs that will facilitate remote learning through digital means. The move would see students learn through different platforms including Kenya Education Cloud, TV, Educational Applications, radio, and mobile phones.
Also, organizations have stepped up in an endeavor to make sure students from across the country get access to education materials even when schools remain closed. One notable partnership was when
Safaricom partnered with Eneza Education, a Kenyan digital education company that provides quizzes, and revision materials that can be accessed through the web or via SMS. The collaboration saw that over 1.8
students in the platform receive educational resources for free through their platform or SMS plan.
However, these learning models though effective, only benefit a fraction of learners who have access to the internet, mobile phones, and appropriate technology for the same. According to education experts, this may
lead to inequitable access to quality education thus widening the education inequality gap.
The Private School Sector
The private school sector has also had its equal share of challenges from the school closure due to the pandemic. Kenya boasts close to 10,000 private schools 33% of all primary schools and 15% of all secondary schools. Private schools depend on school fees from parents in order to run the schools’
operations, unlike the public schools which are funded by the government. Therefore, the extended school closure means that close to 300,000 teachers would go for months without receiving any payment. A number of private schools have switched to digital learning in order to pull through the pandemic. While this seems to work for some of them, the story is not the same for schools serving low-income communities.
Probably the most affected lot due to the extended school closure are children from poor rural areas and urban informal settlements. Experts warned about an increase in drug and substance abuse, crime, child
labor, teenage pregnancies, early marriages, and defilements. Due to loss of livelihoods particularly in low-income households, some children have been forced into income-generating activities to support their
families’ survival.
Reports from the government health data indicate that there has been a sharp increase in teenage pregnancies which is heavily attributed to school closure as young girls from poor families engage in transactional sex in order to gain not only access to essential needs like sanitary towels but also support their families.
Learners especially from the marginalized areas and informal settlements have also been relying on school feeding programs as their main source of food and nutrition. With schools closed, families now have a huge
burden in providing food for their children especially now where most parents are experiencing job loss and income. Since the School feeding programs increase the enrollment rates, improve food security, and
reduces absenteeism, alternative measures that align with the pandemic should be put in place.
Digital Migration
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it known to schools and the government how important it is to embrace online learning technology to supplement classroom learning. It also presents a need to train both students
and teachers in digital skills for them to catch up in the technological world which changes very fast.
The Ministry of Education, teachers, and parents should step up and support vulnerable students to ensure they are included and that no learning loss occurs even as schools have re-opened in January 2021.
All these measures should make sure that there is continued access to equitable, inclusive, and quality education to all learners even after the pandemic.
