"Schools Remain Partially Closed as Fear of Saba Saba Protests Disrupt Learning"

Learning was disrupted in several schools across Nairobi on Tuesday as parents kept children at home or rushed to pick them up over fear of possible disruptions linked to the anticipated saba saba protests.

The uncertainty followed the circulation of a notice released on Monday outlining the planned protest route from Uhuru Park through the city centre to the central police station, prompting many parents and schools to take precautionary measures despite the absence of active demonstration in the morning.

At Kilimani Integrated Comprehensive School, normal learning was significantly affected after only about half of the learners reported to school.

"Today being a Tuesday and also the day marked as Saba Saba, it has made a coalition with our timetable because we expected it to be a normal school day but due to fear from parents,some students have not reported to school and majority of those who reported are being picked by their parents," Mr. Geoffrey Chiveya said.

The school, which has an enrolment of about 2100 learners from grade one to grade nine recorded an unusually low attendance as many parents opted to keep their children at home.

Some learners who had already reported to school were later picked up by their parents as uncertainty over the day’s security situation persisted.

The teacher also said that parents had not been officially notified in advance whether the learners should report to school or not and neither were they notified to pick them up. He says that they followed their intuition and picked them up after monitoring developments around the city.

Although the expected protests had not materialized around the school by mid morning, learning activities remained disrupted as attendance continued to go low.

Across Nairobi, a number of schools either remained closed or operated with reduced attendance as parents weighed the potential risks of traveling through the city.

The disruption reflects the wider impacts that anticipated demonstrations can have beyond business and transport, with education emerging as one of the sectors affected whenever uncertainty over public safety arises.

By midday many roads in parts of Nairobi remained under heightened security as authorities monitored the situation while schools and parents continued to assess whether learning could proceed normally.