Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu on Monday, January 30, banned early morning and evening classes for all students.
The CS complained that teachers overburdened students, giving them little or no time to rest.
Machogu cautioned schools against requiring students to arrive before dawn or leave after dusk.
“With the resumption of the education calendar, the government will be vigilant on reporting time of students. Classes should start at 8.00 am and end exactly at 3.45 pm,” the CS stated.
Machogu also noted that sometimes students wake up at 4 am to prepare for school.
“You will meet students walking in the streets before dawn so that they can make time for remedial classes. We will not allow that, and we will also take action on schools that ferry students home as late as 10.00 pm,” the CS warned.
Kenya Primary Heads Association (KEPSHA) in response asked the Ministry of Education to hire more teachers in order for the directive to be effective.
“There is an acute shortage of teachers in public primary schools, making it hard to finish the syllabus in the stipulated time. We request the Ministry to train and employ more teachers so that it will be possible to adhere to the released school calendar,” KEPSHA remarked.
Machogu had earlier warned principals against sending Junior Secondary School students home over fee arrears.
“Schools shall determine the uniform for their schools which includes additional unique features for the identification and branding of their institutions.
“Uniform shall be the responsibility of parents and no school shall direct parents where to purchase the uniform or exclude students for failure to afford a school uniform,” the guidelines read in part.
