By Malachi Motano

It is now official that schools will reopen according to the ministry of Education calendar following assurance by President Uhuru Kenyatta when he lifted the lockdown in the five Covid-19 zoned counties.

Primary and secondary schools resume on May 10, with a three-day mid-term scheduled for June. The last day of school will be July 16.

The schools will cover the third term of 2020 that was disrupted by a 10 month-closure because of the Covid-19

The Education ministry has said that schools will reopen in May as scheduled, amid high coronavirus infection rates. 

The reopening marks the completion of the seven-week holiday that began on March 23.

Educators say schools cannot lose any more time as they still are trying to catch up on missed learning period.

The holiday was expected to help flatten the third wave of Covid-19 that is ravaging the country.

According to Mutheu Kasanga, the Kenya Private School Association chair, data shows in-person learning did not result in substantial community transmission. 

“Though outbreaks do occur in school settings, multiple studies have shown that transmission within school settings is typically lower than or at least similar to levels of community transmission when prevention strategies are in place in schools,” Kasanga said.

Kasanga said that further closure will erase gains that came with the reopening in January.

He said that scientific evidence has also found children to be safer in school compared to home.