When the schools were closed in March due to the corona virus pandemic, teachers and learner's were all ordered to stay at home untill further notice in a way to curb the spread of the virus in the country. 

Several months later, the government changed the tune of staying at home, and introduced a program, the Community Based Learning, that would see teachers engage learners at the village level.

The idea of the community based learning brought a lot of confusion amongst teachers, parents and the learners since the facts behind its approval were not clear. The education CS, professor Magoha insisted that the program was to start, with each teacher engaging a maximum of 15 learners for a period if 5 hours.

However, the program was in itself confusing and to some extent illogical not only to the learners but also to the teachers. The fact that it was supposed to take place at the community level, it would be hard to get venues to accommodate the over 15 million learners. 

Social amenities like toilets, water, soap amongst others were not considered when the program was put in place. Instead the government was giving orders for the program to start, yet the amenities are extremely important, not only for Covid-19 protection matters but also for other hygiene reasons.

The total number of the learners could have overwhelmed the 300,000 teachers population. For the program to be executed flawlessly and without hitches ensuring all learners catered for, the over 15 million learners in groups of 15 each would need at least 1million teachers. This would therefore mean that the programme would benefit only a small fraction of the learners, while the others would lack venues and teachers.

The infrastructure to be used when executing the programme should have been considered. The curriculum and the content, materials like books and writing materials were all needed to ensure the program is productive. Teachers were also supposed to be taken through an induction workshop to ensure that they deliver the required content. Instead, the tutors were being bulldozed to avail themselves and start the programme, right from home.

The government should have considered the safety of the learners and the teachers while in the community undertaking the learning. Instead, the education CS, Hon. Magoha affirmed that the teachers needed no protective equipments (PPE's) to pretect the programme. This showed that the government did not see a possibility of the virus finding it's way into the programme, since the teachers and the learners did not need the protective gears.

The places where the learning would have taken place were also supposed to be attended to on daily basis by the ministry of health, with fumigation being a daily practice to ensure the learners and the teachers are safe from the virus. Other protective materials like sanitizers and masks were all needed. 

Before the learners and the teachers could be cleared to attend the community based learning lessons, it was important to test them, so that the whole program could not seem like a gamble. This means that the government should have done over 16 million tests to the teachers and learners, so as to ensure that the learners and teachers are safe and ready for each other.

Instead, all these important facts were somehow ignored, with the call to attend the programme being the main line of instructions to the teachers. The government was therefore ill advised on the program because it would have been better if they put their emphasis on laying the preparations for the reopening of schools.

At the moment, the programme have been shelved for some time pending the hearing of a court case involving the reopening of schools. The Teachers Service Commission on it's side ordered all teachers not to participate in the programme untill further notice.

The government have also boosted the hopes to learners and teachers that the schools may resume sooner than expected since the Covid-19 curve was reportedly flattening. 

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