Pursuit for literacy in kenya in the middle of the covid 19 pandemic.

     

Right now, in almost every country in the world, living with coved 19 seems to be the new norm. People are now forced to adapt to the safety measures as directed by various health ministries in different countries. However, as adapted to the new norm as people may seem to be, it is also evident that the virus is here to stay.

A very good example is the is the case where safety measures were followed keenly and the virus seemed to be losing the war.However,as soon as the restrictions were lifted in Kenya, the virus seemed to have a comeback and take us for a rerun. When the WHO gave the green light for the reopening of schools in countries, Kenya's cabinet Secretary for education, PROF. George Magoha, felt the outcry of parents on the struggles they underwent and the pressure, he decided to reopen schools for the candidates and grade 4 students. However as it seems, grass isn’t greener on the other side… This is because cases being reported of people being infected with the virus are on the rise.

As far as the welfare of students is concerned, it is good to know that education is the key to success, but is there success when our children’s lives are at stake?

This is a topic that needs a lot of experience and patience because we might think that staying with our children at home is expensive in many perspectives and so we might decide to rush and take our children to school. In the long run, the cheapest option proves to be expensive since many of our children are likely to succumb to the virus while we expose them to the  covid 19 virus  in the name of education. I might sound like someone who is against education,but I am not, in fact I greatly support education and its benefits, but we cannot sit back and risk tomorrow’s generation in the pursuit of literacy.

In my own way, I think that parents should be taken through basic education and teaching techniques in order for them to impact the knowledge themselves to their children and this way a lot of risks are carefully and easily avoided. This might be an easy way but also training the parents is the hardest part,well,I guess that’s a discussion for another day!

Author:Owino.