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."
Comments (9)
Good for those Kinds who have (for Many years) been Mentally RAPED by Lazy teachers and Sexually raped Early in the Morning and Late in the Evening (by those STDed bodabodas and Wakoras).
WTF*:;!what a weak weak country we've become.Changing hours is laughable..So what does that mean for school staff, their working schedules and the parents work times.who finishes work at 4pm?.This model is being designed to create more manual laborers under the davos WEF agenda.It's insane how out of touch our education system and ministry is with the real world---studies show that teen crimes increases in society where they are out of school earlier in the day.stupid now increase school holidays as well.Goes to show how the system is failing.Just let them students stay in bed all day then,why should they have to stir their sleepy TikTok heads and even go to classes, they have no intention of getting a real job.They already know everything apart from their self-discipline & self-indulgence.
Totally agree with this. Kenyan schools are torture.
All that torture and after graduation the job market is even more unforgiving. My fellow Kenyans, please do not judge our sisters who are dying in the Arab world, our leaders have failed us.
Congratulations!! Now we have woken up.
Next is to stop punishing kids for using local languages. Let us bring up our kids the natural way.
Now we are thinking!!
Thank God! My nephew at 6 years old wakes up at 5 am, by the time he gets back with all that traffic it is 6.30pm, yet he has homework to do.
And it is, rinse n repeat Mon - Fri...
Will they enforce this? Main issue is unemployment. Create jobs for ppl.
One of the most appealing thing to me today. Why was this not passed 40 years back! I am not a morning person and I suffered through those early preps in school and as a parent later. Torturous waking kids that early. No life outside of school. I never liked it even after becoming a trained teacher. Now, the next struggle with be to find ways to keep the kids safe and effectively occupied from 3.45 Pm to sleep time, lol!
It should end @3pm Mr minister for those who r day schoolers so by 4pm most students r home.