NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug, 23 – Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has said that schools hosting polling centers in areas where elections were postponed will be closed for a day before resuming learning.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati wrote a letter to the Ministry of Education requesting them to avail the schools.
IEBC Monday morning said that elections for various elective positions that had been postponed due to errors on the ballot papers will now be conducted on Monday, August, 29,2022.
“The IEBC has pronounced itself with regards to elections in Mombasa and Kakamega as well as some MP and MCA seats, but the ones that concern us are the big ones in Kakamega and Mombasa. We have agreed having consulted Chebukati and Hussein Marjan that as far as the polling centers are concerned we are happy to allow them to use our facilities in both primary and secondary schools,” said Magoha.
These include the hotly contested Mombasa Gubernatorial seat where Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) candidate Abdulswamad Sharif Nassir will be battling it out with United Democratic Alliance’s (UDA) candidate Hassan Sarai Omar.
Also, In Kakamega ODM’s gubernatorial candidate Fernandes Barasa will be contesting the county’s top seat against ANC’s Cleophas Malala.
Other affected areas where polls were not conducted include MP races in Kacheliba Constituency Pokot South Constituency, Kitui Rural Constituency, and Rongai Constituency.
Other areas include Member of County Assembly Ward in Nyaki West in North Imenti Constituency and Kwa Njenga in Embakasi South Constituency.
Magoha however said that the tallying centers which may require more than one day ,will be relocated to area tertiary institutions.
“We have agreed as the government the boarding schools will not be closed, they will not be interfered with. Those that are polling centers the children will remain in the boarding houses, fields, and libraries. As far a day schools are concerned we think one day is not bad enough, children can stay at home on Monday 29 and go back on Tuesday, 30,2022,”
The same rules will apply to mixed schools.
Schools nationwide resumed the second term amid an extended hiatus on Thursday 18 August 2022.
An initial directive from the ministry of education said that schools would be reopened on August 11, 2022.
According to the academic calendar, this school term has 10 weeks.
Second term is expected to end on September 16, 2022.
The academic calendar could possibly be affected even further depending on the outcome of this year’s elections.
Original Academic Calendar
This year’s academic year was expected to be completed in at least 30 weeks compared to the 2021 calendar where learners were in school for a period of at least 30 weeks.
Ministry of education officials had advised teachers to devise a flexible schedule that will see them cover the syllabus in time.
According to a circular from the ministry of education earlier this year, the first term was set to stretch from April 25 and ends on July 1, upon which Learners would then proceed on a half-term break for three days from May 26 to 29,2022.
From July 2 to 10 learners will break for a week-long holiday and resume studies for second term on July 11.
A mid-term break was set to be from August 11 to 14 as the second holiday for learners was scheduled to be from September 17 to 25,2022.
The third and final term in the academic calendar would then begin on September 26 and end on November 25.
According to KNEC, candidates sitting their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam, will do so from November 28 to December 1, 2022.
Candidates sitting their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam will do so from December 1 to 23,2022.
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