Musalia Mudavadi, the Amani National Congress party leader, on Wednesday, April 29, blasted Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) George Magoha and the national government over the uncertainty regarding the 2020 national examinations.
In his statement, Mudavadi did not mince his words as he pointed out that the Education CS was downplaying the important issue so much so that he was riding on press conferences held by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe to make impromptu announcements.
“These casual and abrupt statements have mostly been given in the sidelines of Ministry of Health briefings of Covid-19. The fate of some 1.2 million KCPE candidates and 700,000 KCSE candidates hang precariously in the balance. In all, about 15 million learners, who should be in school or college, are at home,” he stated.
He urged the ministry to give the issue the seriousness it deserved and urged the CS as well as the national government to stop the habit of issuing what he described as speculative statements.
“We must avoid the habit of decrees and lone-ranger approaches of the kind that the Ministry of Education is used to.
“Not every learner has access to radio or TV and less still to the internet. Even those who can physically access these facilities are challenged with the costs of activating them. Let us not cheat ourselves,” he stressed.
He then urged the government to accept that the situation was dire stating that not only were the children away from the classrooms but also the chances of completing syllabuses were little to none.
“Let us accept that things are bad – indeed very bad – and that we may need to take some very drastic decisions about education, but which decisions are good and necessary for the country, in the long term,” he emphasised.
On Sunday, April 26, CS Magoha announced that the nationwide closure of schools and learning institutions would be extended by an additional month after the scheduled May 4, opening date.
He also revealed that the exams would only feature questions drawn from parts of the curriculum covered by learners before the Covid-19 disruption.
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