Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has vowed to come to the rescue of students who have been left stranded, following a late directive about reopening of schools from the ministry of Education.
In a statement in the wee hours of Monday morning, Education CS Ezekiel Machogu announced that schools will be reopened in May 6, 2024 for the second term due to the ongoing floods that wrecked havoc in the country.
“The devastating effects of the rains in some of the schools are so severe that it will be imprudent to risk the lives of learners and staff before water-tight measures are put in place to ensure adequate safety of all affected school communities.
“Based on this assessment, the Ministry of Education has resolved to postpone the reopening of all primary and secondary schools by one week, to Monday, May 6, 2024,” the CS stated.
The directive came late when a lot of students were already heading to their schools, hence subjecting the CS and Ministry of Education to criticism.
“How do you issue notice of postponement of school opening day on the morning of school opening day?” Former LSK president Nelson Havi posed on X.
Learners in Mombasa return back home after government’s late night announcement to postpone reopening of schools pic.twitter.com/nTergdsSyn
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) April 29, 2024
In an interview with Radio Citizen on Monday morning, Governor Sakaja however vowed to provide bus fare and snacks of students who have been stranded.
“I have seen several pictures of stranded students online some of whom had been given one-way bus fare to school,” Sakaja said. “When I leave (the studio), I will go to the stages and pay for all the students who are stranded in town. I have sent my team to check now and I will go to the stages myself. I will give them fare and soda.”
He further defended Machogu, saying the fault of the late communication might not be entirely his.
“You cannot blame the minister for not thinking because maybe they got the information at night or they got direction from other places for the better good. Never think that the government has ill will when releasing information,” he said.
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