By Staff Reporter
Reopening preparations in public primary and secondary schools countrywide have been thrown into a crisis following government delays in releasing the free learning funds.
Despite the government’s promise to disburse money to school accounts by 8th October 2020, to enable them to prepare ahead of Monday re-opening, the majority of the schools have not received the funds.
This raises questions on the level of the government preparedness towards Monday re-opening where Grade 4, Class 8 and Form Four are expected to resume physical learning.
Many school heads who talked to Education News seeking anonymity for fear of being reprimanded and considering the sensitivity of the matter said that they had not received any funds in their school accounts by yesterday.
The money is supposed to assist schools in preparation for reopening including the purchase of hand sanitizers and thermo guns for temperature checks among other requirements ahead of the reopening date.
Early this week, the Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof. George Magoha in a statement directed Grade 4, STD 8 and Form Four to resume leaning on Monday 12th October 2020, a statement that caught parents flat-footed.
However, it is not clear whether the government will purchase sanitizers and facemasks for leaners since the burden seems to have been shifted to parents.
“I am not sure if we will be able to purchase the face masks for leaners and sanitizers since we are still waiting for the funds from the government, which we have not received up to now,” said one of the school heads.
However, as leaners and teachers prepare for Monday re-opening, the financial future of the BOM has remained bleak.
Despite the government saying that it had disbursed the money for the BOM teachers, the puzzle to which account has remained unanswered. Speaking to Education News, a BOM teacher seeking anonymity said that there was no section for bank details in the form they filled some weeks ago.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Education Committee on 30th September 2020, the Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof George Magoha said that the government will only pay BOM teachers who are registered by the Teachers Service Commission, and who only have TSC numbers, not ID numbers, adding that the government disbursed money for 27,000 BOM teachers and those who were omitted were assured of getting their pay soon.
