Why schools had to be reopened

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha addresses the media after an inspection tour of Nyeri National Polytechnic [Mose Sammy, Standard]

Desperate effort to salvage loss of an entire academic year, fear of increased hopelessness among learners and the near-full return to normalcy across all sectors pushed the government to open schools. The Standard established that the government was also not keen on dealing with the consequences of a wasted 2020 academic year and delayed transition of learners.

With increasing cases of pregnancies, drug and substance abuse, forced marriages, forced female genital mutilations, promiscuity, and child labour, costs of keeping schools shut were dire. It also emerged that with the economy fully opened with nearly all sectors returning to normalcy, it was not productive to keep children at home.