KNUT Wants the Academic Calendar and the KCSE Exam Changed.
This year’s Form Four candidates have experienced a turbulent academic journey.
The deck appears to be stacked against them as they get ready to take their national exams and deal with a second significant disturbance to their academic life.
Just like it was for the KCPE exam, schools have been closed in the run-up to the KCSE exam.
Due to COVID-19, schools were closed for eight months in 2020 (from March to November). Applicants sat their exams in 2021.
Education experts anticipate that this year may see a delay of a similar nature.
President William Ruto’s announcement on Friday that schools will be closed indefinitely has sparked worries about the shutdown’s potential knock-on effects.
Schools are once more in a precarious situation, four years after the Covid-19 upheaval.
Collins Oyuu, the chairman of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, stated that the government will need to review the academic calendar and take into account moving up the dates of the KCSE exams.
Guidelines regarding a revised calendar have not yet been released by the ministry.
The ministry is probably going to take the lost time into account and work to make up for it this year. Therefore, KCSE may be completed well into December, according to Oyuu.
Chairman of the National Parents Association (NPA), Silas Obuhatsa, pointed out that the ministry would have to modify the schedule to account for the days that were missed.
He did, however, voice optimism that the interruption this year will probably be minimal.
Obuhatsa stated, “The CS should move quickly and provide timely updates on reopening when the situation improves, including any calendar adjustments and accounting for those who might not be able to return to school.” Obuhatsa does point out that parents may face additional stress in organizing costs due to the change in term dates.
He claims that this is because there won’t be much time between terms.
at addition to the academic calendar being delayed, the persistent rains have caused infrastructure damage at schools.
Each school had anticipated some impact from the rains, according to Kenya Primary Schools Association chairman Johnson Nzioka, despite the fact that the level of destruction varies.
Every school has experienced this in a unique way. Some moderate, some severe. The information is contained in the reports submitted to the Ministry of Education; perhaps the most badly impacted people should receive precedence when repairs are made, Nzioka suggested.
The Ministry of Interior’s data indicates that the rains have impacted 1,967 schools.
President Ruto urged Members of Parliament to use the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) kitty to prioritize the rehabilitation of schools damaged by rains in addition to declaring the permanent closure of schools.
Ruto has drawn criticism, meanwhile, for not providing solutions to the risks that kids encounter when they are not in school.
Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Women Teachers Association Benta Opande issued a warning, stating that the closure of the schools would have consequences akin to those seen during the Covid-19 incident.
She cautioned that because of their lack of education and the dislocation brought on by floods, girls were especially susceptible to abuse.
Opande stated, “If you look at families more so, women and girls who are displaced are now exposed to twice as much danger. Sometimes these schools act as a safe haven to protect children.”
While she acknowledges that closing schools was the proper move, she has urged the government to establish regulations that will protect kids even when they are not in class.
“We saw a rise in teen pregnancies and increased dropout rates during the Covid period; perhaps the government needs to have stopgaps for those things,” the speaker stated.
Over 375,000 students dropped out of school as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, according to a study written by former President Uhuru Kenyatta and published in 2021.
According to the paper “Promises to Keep: Impact of Covid-19 on Adolescents,” 165,000 teenage girls between the ages of 10 and 19 were either pregnant or married.
Opande also advocated for student counseling when they returned to class.
Education expert Janet Ouko Muthoni requested that the Ministry of Education carry out a study on learning gaps that arise when students re-enter the classroom.
KNUT Wants the Academic Calendar and the KCSE Exam Changed.
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