The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has warned against protracted closure of schools, charging that the effects will haunt the country in future.
Yesterday President William Ruto in his address to the nation directed the Ministry of Education (MoE) to postpone school reopening from Monday May 6, 2024 until further notice due to the ongoing heavy rains and floods.
And now KUPPET Busia Executive Secretary Moffats Okisai has warned that the effects of the extension of the school holiday is misadvised as it comes at a time the education sector is recovering from the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The education sector is recovering from the injuries inflicted by corona. The school academic calendar got disoriented. Students contact hours with the teachers was greatly reduced. Interestingly, the status quo for the syllabus and workloads was uninterrupted,” said Okisai.
“Statistics inform the decision-making process. The directives given by the Cabinet Secretary Education (Ezekiel Machogu) to all school boards and County Education Boards to meet are visionary. However, it should have been done prior to suspension of opening of schools. Has it been raining where the CS is housed? If not, he stands forgiven,” he added.
Okisai challenged Machogu to be giving updates to the country about the number of schools affected by the raging floods alongside mitigation measures put in place, just the same way the former Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe gave regular updates on the Covid-19 at that time.
He also observed that it will be a nightmare for teachers when schools re-open since many learners will have forgotten what they were taught previously.
“Current generations of learners are quick at unlearning all that they had learned. With this prolonged and indefinite holiday, teachers have more tasks ahead of redoing the teaching. Unfortunately, the limiting factor is time,” said Okisai.
“In the long run, the ill-informed decisions adversely affect education. The half-baked learners transit and graduate without sufficient knowledge, intended skills and desired attitudes,” he added.
According to Okisai, in future, humanity will suffer everywhere, warning that the actions of the Education CS are geared towards compromising education and subjecting Kenyans to suffering.
“As such when students join the job market, the effects of the floods of May 2024 will begin to manifest in the following ways: helicopters and airplanes will crash in the hands of such pilots, justice will be lost in the hands of such judges and lawyers, buildings, bridges and dykes will collapse during floods in the hands of such engineers, money will not be accounted for in the hands of such economists and accountants, poor and perilous decisions and policies about school opening will be made by such leaders, patients will die in the hands of such doctors and researchers,” he warned.
“As Geoffrey Chaucer observed, time and tides wait for no man. Any time wasted is time lost. Students’ time is being lost because of floods. Mitigation measures have to be devised as soon as possible. In the meantime, we’re engulfed in darkness,” he added.
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By Roy Hezron
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