Education Cabinet Secretary, Professor George Magoha has ordered an immediate closure of schools effective Tuesday 2nd August.
In a statement seen by the media, the schools will remain closed until 11th August to allow for preparations and conduct of the August 9 general elections.
“As you are all aware, Kenya is scheduled to conduct its National Elections on Tuesday 9th August 2022. Therefore, following further consultations, I hereby convey the Government’s decision on the immediate closure of ALL Basic Education institutions with effect from Tuesday, 2nd August 2022 until Wednesday, 10th August 2022 to ensure that preparations and conduct of the upcoming election is carried out seamlessly” Magoha said in a statement.
The announcement comes as a surprise to parents and teachers as schools had been scheduled to proceed for a one-week half-term break from Friday this week.
Schools are used by the electoral commission as polling and tallying centers every election year, for the 2022 election the commission in a gazette notice indicated that almost 250 schools will be used as tallying centers.
Meanwhile, Magoha is calling upon the incoming president to give him more time to oversee the construction of CBC classrooms into completion.
The CS, however, says CBC classrooms are almost complete and the first batch of Grade 7 learners are set to join Junior Secondary schools in January next year.
Most of the institutions are primary and secondary schools, universities and technical training institutes.