Schools Not Ready For January Reopening-Sossion [VIDEO]
by Imran OtienoKenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion opposed Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha's plans to reopen schools in January 2021.
Sossion was speaking at a Sunday church service in Bomet East, adding that he was not opposed to tertiary institutions resuming learning before January.
The Sec-Gen raised concerns about the level of preparedness of schools with regards to infrastructure ahead of a planned reopening in January.
Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion addressing a press conference.
File
"We think if, at the rate in which the sector is moving, the country and schools will not be ready for resumption in January, that is the truth in terms of preparations.
"That is the key thing we will be discussing tomorrow, the CS should be able to tell us the adequate preparations in terms of infrastructure, and TSC should be able to tell us the adequate preparations in terms of recruitment," he explained.
Sossion's remarks mean that school children will go without physical learning in classrooms for almost a year if schools remain closed beyond January.
The Teachers Service Commission on September 1, 2020, announced that it was seeking to recruit a cumulative 11,574 teachers in a mass exercise.
Meanwhile, CS Magoha on Friday called for a meeting of all education stakeholders set for Monday, September 14, at the Kenyan Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
The crisis meeting slated for Monday is set to address the confusion surrounding the reopening of learning institutions across the country.
Magoha is trying to beat the deadline set by President Uhuru Kenyatta with less than a week left to consolidate the input of education stakeholders, and present it to the Head of State at the National Consultative Conference.
The Education CS has reiterated his stand that schools will resume in January and hit out at a section of media for misquoting him with reports flying out that learning could resume before the end of 2020.
A number of teachers union have opposed the resumption of learning before January citing a number of reasons including disruption of the school calendar and ill-preparedness of schools.
Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) are some of the unions that have opposed the reopening before January.