The interim directive seeking to stop the Ministry of Education from rolling out Community-Based-Learning has been extended. The case was presented by Mr Joseph Aura on August and its hearing and determination are pending before the court.
The Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Health ministry and TSC had planned to engage learners through Community-Based-Learning during this pandemic period in order to instil basic coronavirus knowledge and life skills education.
However, Mr Aura through the court challenged the plan citing lack of consultation from the education stakeholders. He accused the Health and Education Ministries of a reckless exhibition of indifference to an extent that may cause pain and suffering to school-going children.
Mr Joseph Aura argues that there is a rising rate of online pornography exposure and teenage pregnancies due to lack of care by parents during the daytime. However, CS Magoha and his Health counterpart opposed Aura's petition noting that reopening without planning could contradict the coronavirus pandemic precaution measures.
The two cabinet secretaries told the court that the same matter has been handled by a court in a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK). The court resonated with the restriction of movement point considering the Covid-19 state in Kenya.
But on his part, Mr Aura noted that in-person learning was ideal compared to virtual learning that exposes learners to dangerous content asking the court to compel the Ministry of Education to reopen learning institutions this September.
The Cabinet Secretaries defended themselves saying that they have to balance between the right to education and the right to life noting that reopening of schools was not an event and needs planning to safeguard the lives of learners and the community.
They added that Community-Based-Learning is meant to ensure that lessons continue even during this Covid-19 period. The use of zoom, webinars, Kenya Education Clour, and radios were rolled out already. They said that the Kenyan government was ensuring that the environment is safe before re-opening.
The case will be mentioned on October 6.
