Kenya Education CS Machogu Orders School Days to Start at 8am, End at 3:45pm

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has banned morning and night preps in day primary and secondary schools.

On Tuesday, Machogu ordered that the schools operate between 8 a.m and 3:45 p.m, arguing that the current curriculum causes mental torture on pupils by setting school days to start at needlessly early hours.

The cabinet secretary further directed schools to adjust to the normal school calendar, noting that the recommended time is adequate to cover the syllabus in the required time.

"We have given very clear instructions as a ministry and taking into consideration the coverage of the syllabus. The syllabus will be adequately and properly covered from 8am to 3:45pm. Let us not subject our pupils to unnecessary mental torture," he said.

Machogu said forcing students to wake up early and then return home late affects their mental health, adding that they should be granted more time to rest and engage in extra-curriculum activities.

"We are subjecting our pupils, including those in PP1 and PP2, to unnecessary struggle because I have seen areas where they start their school day at 7 am and end it at 5 pm and even others at 6 pm," he noted.

"You find a 5-year-old kid is woken up at 5:00 am, taken to school, and leave school after 5:00 pm. This is even affecting the mental health of our young pupils. We want them to have enough rest and engage in sports. We don't want to subject them to a lot of unnecessary strain.”

He continued: "Even the time for sleep for these young ones should be for around 9 to 10 hours. Let us make learning as natural as possible. We are not going to allow that because once it continues it will affect the mental health of our children."