No show in schools as protests take centre stage

Teaching and learning was disrupted in schools within the city and in various parts of the country following protests staged by the opposition coalition, Azimio.

While some institutions partially operated with a fraction of the total student and teacher population, others completely closed doors.

This shines spot light on the effects of the protest on teaching and learning as it could possibly slow down the coverage of syllabus in the institutions.

An analysis by The Standard on the same indicates that the learners risk losing at least five learning days in the remaining part of the school term should the protest continue to August.

A spot-check of schools around Nairobi by The Standard indicate that the protest not only affected teaching and learning but also some extra curricula activities.

In Ofafa Jericho, the scheduled music and drama festivals was halted. The institution is hosting the festival for the regional competitions and Wednesday was slated to be the last day.

However, that has been postponed and the final day of the institution rescheduled to Thursday.

Anthony Thuo, the principal of the institution indicated that in the last two days, the festival had attracted over 10,000 participants but had to be halted over uncertainty caused by the protests.

However, he said, teaching and learning continued in his school as the institution is a boarding school.

In Moi Avenue Primary and Junior secondary school in Nairobi the hallways were empty and classes were safeguarded by padlocks as learners did not report to school on Wednesday; the school administration also remained closed.

The institution is at the heart of the Nairobi Central Business District and according to the school’s security officer, Silvester Nyongesa, no order was given by the administration for the learners not to report to school.

“Most parents drop their children here before proceeding to work but today it was a no show. Some teachers also reported but left afterwards,” Nyongesa told The Standard.

Jamhuri secondary school— a mixed day and boarding school— also witnessed a slump in the number of day schoolers attending the institutions as they kept away from school on Wednesday.

However, the school security indicated that teaching and learning was taking place for learners in their boarding wing.

In Our Lady of Mercy Girls primary and junior secondary school the number of leaners attending was minimal.

The school is a day school and has a population of about 1000 learners.

However, Jane Muchiri, a teacher at the institution told the Standard that less than half of their student—455 learners— showed up for school today.

“Despite the low turnout, teaching and learning is going on in the school but the turnout is very low,” she said.

At City Primary School, the situation was not different as most learners and some teachers failed to show up

“Most of the learners attending this school come from Majengo and Pumwani area and when there is chaos, this greatly affects attendance.” A teacher at the institution told the Standard.

How many days will be lost if this remains for the rest of the term.