Disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, many parents and guardians have been reluctant to allow their young children to go back to school. Others have no problem.
Social ills have become hot topics in the recent past as it is feared thousands of learners might leave school or engage in crime.
No doubt, the government has indicated a return to school in October was likely, although President Uhuru Kenyatta in his latest national address almost put brakes on the plans, saying it will be tied to safety of children. He asked the team charged with assessing the possibility to be clear about how it would be done.
Indeed, George Magoha, the Education Cabinet Secretary, has been so cautious to give a definite date even after the Teachers Service Commission asked tutors to report back to school on September 28.
The President’s move was the clearest step yet that reopening schools was a headache to the government regarding the safety of learners against the Covid-19 background.
We should be careful not to reignite the infection whose curve was beginning to flatten, President Kenyatta said when he eased the Covid restrictions further, including allowing bars and clubs to return while the curfew is now shorter.
Talk of a people between a rock and a hard place.
No matter the magnitude of this pandemic, life has to continue and national education case is no exception. The actions Kenya takes will take the country forward and bring back hope for students, the parents, and the whole society.
Already the Education CS gave universities the go-ahead to allow a few students back on campus under strict health protocols.
Generally, taking more than six months out of school could lead to de-learning for some students, although the majority will continue.
While schools are reopening, it is important to recognise the challenges the education sector faces at this critical hour of the nation’s history.
Among them is the possibility of losing lives to this disease that has confounded everyone, locking out of school more than 1.3 billion learners, according to UN estimates.
”If we have won one battle against Covid-19, we have not won the war yet. The possibility of a second wave of this pandemic is real,” President Kenyatta warned. ”I plead with Kenya, let us not focus ourselves on when the schools will reopen, but how they will open in a manner that protects our children, their lives and health,” appealed the President.
In some countries, restrictions have returned when infections started rising again.
Parents are understandably stressed with balancing jobs and providing round-the-clock care for their children who are faced with temptations of misbehaviour, from crime to premarital sex that has led to a surge in unwanted pregnancies.
Teachers, on the other hand, are slowly unhooking from the noble profession to do side hustles whose earnings may, for now, look appetising.
Nonetheless, it is in eerie situations like this that people learn, unlearn and relearn. So, identifying new strengths and new streams of earning is expected, meaning some teachers, just like their students, won’t return to the classroom.
However, it makes sense that the reopening does not cause trauma, upheavals, and untold pain. Across the world, on-site learning is resuming and some estimates say only a third of students are out of school. Seriously, there should be no rush to reopen fully.
After a disaster of this dimension, going back to school requires the right attitude and self-awareness. According to the University of Pittsburg, disasters whose scale mirror this pandemic do not prepare people for their coming.
They are abnormal, so they don’t respond well to the usual protocols. Which makes it unbelievable that education stakeholders were already redrawing school calendars while parents are reported to worry about age of children and their classes.
Arguments won’t help at such a time, but we need to rely on data we receive and process into useful information.
Dr Chirapat Ukachoke observes that the mind is a physical theory that we are. That is why it is said “what you think is, is what is.” For example, colour red is red because that is phenomenally what it appears in the mind and which we are conscious about.
Though modern man is conscious and has free will, what happens to us does so because of data processing.
If we succeed, it is because we tuned our mind towards defeating the consequences brought about by the disease. If we lose, it will be because we fell short of the basic requirements of handling the pandemic in our nation.
Exceptional survivals have been attributed to information a person is given from the onset that builds on his ability to cope with imminent danger.
It is, therefore, appropriate that students and teachers are fed with the right information so that the return to school is not only sweet but also practical.
Corona news has been depressing and could cause panic among students and teachers, leading to a disturbed return to school, making teaching and learning difficult.
Preparing students, teachers, workers and parents psychologically will be of much intrinsic value in this formula. Panic impairs judgment. Once the fear of possible death engulfs the mind, even the common influenza attack can take the victim out.
It is, therefore, important that everyone in the school environment remain calm in the face of possible adversity. This requires guidance and counselling.
In the past, when school fires were rampant, the TSC hinted at employing counsellors. Here is another big role requiring expert counselling and the government could use the moment to send these experts to all schools.
Against all odds, schools ought to ensure the Covid-19 protocols are observed at all times. All the best as learning resumes sooner or later.
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