School opening dates changed amid census

The Ministry of Education has changed the opening date for third term to September 2.

The opening date is expected to take course from September 2 as directed to all county directors of Education by Principal Secretary for Education, Belio Kipsang.

Initially, the opening date was August 26 which has now been extended by to allow for census.

This is because the National Population and Housing Census exercise had been scheduled for the night of August 24 and 25 and August 31 which coincided with the school opening date.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) which conducts the exercise weighed in on the change of the opening date in order to visit households with full families.

The KNBS states that this will enhance the data quality as all students will be captured in the census.

The agency had expressed fears that about 11 million students who are in primary and secondary schools risked missing out on the census if the opening date was not changed.

Being excluded

Their parents were also at risk of being excluded in the one-week exercise as they could have accompanied their children during the respective opening day.

With the permission granted by the Ministry of Education, it is anticipated that the term will be extended by a week to cater for completion of the syllabus.

However, KNBS intends to deploy census officials in schools for students who may miss out the important process.