Parents express their anger against Magoha over abrupt closure of schools

CS education George Magoha has received criticism for issuing an impulsive order ordering schools to close on Tuesday to make space for elections.

Akello Misori, the general secretary of Kuppet, stated in a statement on Monday that it is inappropriate for students to return to class on August 11, two days after the elections.

“This is outright impractical, since the elections will take nearly a week to conclude. Moreover, parents need reasonable time to assess whether their children can travel and settle in schools safely,” Misori said.

On August 15, according to the head of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers, classes should resume.

Misori referred to Magoha’s direction as hurried and claimed that the CS did not consult stakeholders in the field of education before deciding to close the institution.

“Any stakeholder with a legitimate interest in the school calendar would have advised against the hasty decision,” Misori said.

Magoha ordered all schools to release students for midterm on Tuesday so that they could prepare for the conduct of the general elections on August 9.

Misori claimed that because Magoha was aware that schools would serve as polling and tallying locations, he had enough time to decide when students should take a break.

“The closure will seriously disrupt the delivery of the curriculum. Most schools had scheduled internal examinations ahead of the original closure date on August 16,” Misori said.