EDITORIAL: Prepare well for surge in school population

The closure of schools for the remainder of the year was always a possibility given the way the coronavirus has spread and the danger of exposure that children would suffer in a school environment.

While the move is necessary, and well advised, it doesn’t make it any easier for the affected parents and children, who are effectively repeating classes and candidates facing another year of waiting for the national examinations.

Amid all the gloom, however, is an opportunity for the education administrators to make a few things right in the sector.

The Ministry of Education and other players should use the time on their hands to plan well.

Of utmost importance is the basic level of education in nursery schools, which now face an admissions crisis as 2.5 million children will mark school-going age and will expect a place in these pre-primary centres.

The decision to hold advancement in classes means though that these children who shall have attained the school-going age of four years in January 2021 as required under the Basic Education Curriculum Framework may not get admission slots due to double intake.

Kenya has about 46,530 pre-primary schools, which will clearly not have enough room to handle the increased number of children.

This problem will keep being pushed back each year as next cohort goes through the education system.

Already, school facilities and teaching staff are overstretched due to the enrolment increase with the introduction of free primary education and affordable day secondary schools.

It is imperative, therefore, that the government and private sector players use the next six months to plan well, which means increasing capacity in schools and hiring more staff to cater for the double intake.

Resources that would have been used to cater for students this year were they in school should now be redirected to this capacity enhancement, which should include a shift to digital learning so that in case the virus is still with us in January the pupils will not have to lose more time out of class.

Failure to do so will condemn a large number of children to lack of education, or diluted learning that will do nothing to help them down the road.