Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha said that the government is in talks with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to ensure learners remain in school in case of any by-election.
Magoha said that this would avert the loss of more time in the already constrained academic calendar.
“If there is an election somewhere and it is going to take a day we are not going to ask our children to go home again. It is far much wiser to ensure that children who are in boarding schools remain there and avoid classrooms where voting will be taking place.” said Magoha.
While commissioning the competence-based curriculum classes at Makadara Sub-County in Nairobi on Wednesday, August 17, Magoha suggested that colleges, polytechnics and even universities be used for vote-tallying instead of secondary and primary schools.
“If the tallying of votes is supposed to, let’s say, take place at a secondary school, we want to urge the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to relocate the tallying centre to institutions of higher learning. This will avert the loss of more time in the academic calendar,” he added.
In the run-up to the August 9, 2022 General Election, schools were closed on August 2 and are expected to resume for normal learning on Thursday, August 18.