Hundreds of students have been stranded in various parts of the country after Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu’s last-minute postponement of schools’ re-opening to Monday, the 6th of May.
In Kajiado County students who had reported to schools for the second term got stranded after learning the government had pushed the re-opening date by a week.
Students accompanied by their parents from far-flung areas in Kajiado had already spent a fortune to take their children back to school Monday morning.
Some had travelled Sunday evening to be in schools on time only to learn of the new development after they had already arrived at the institutions.
Parents took issue with the Education Ministry’s late announcement saying it had inconvenienced parents and students.
Agitated parents had to go back home with their children but unaccompanied students were stranded in bus parks.
Similar sentiments were expressed by the National Parents Association chairman, David Obuhatsa, over the confusion caused by the abrupt decision to extend the schools’ opening date by one week.
Obuhatsa who was speaking to KBC on the phone, however, supported the move by the government but advised the Ministry of Education to in future to notify parents in good time to avoid inconveniencing them.
The Association boss absolved the government from criticism noting that like any disaster, floods are beyond government control.
He urged school managers to liaise with Education officers in their areas on how to take care of boarding school students who have reported until the new reporting date.
In Nairobi, the Governor, Johnson Sakaja, has undertaken to pay return bus fare for stranded students in the county.
Following the postponement of School Opening Dates and the fact that many parents had already released their children to report to school this morning, we have organized the payment of return fare for the stranded students.
My teams are at various bus stations sorting out… pic.twitter.com/fHfq2PK0kh
— Sakaja Arthur Johnson (@SakajaJohnson) April 29, 2024
The government issued a circular at 1 am extending the opening date to 6th May 2024 after some students had already reported to their respective schools in the country.
