Back to school reality check for parents who went big for Christmas and New Year parties » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 3- After pomp and colour characterised with fine wine, fine whisky, champagne, many many beers, Nyama Choma and other niceties that marked the beginning of 2022, parents with children in school are back to reality in life.

Schools are re-opening Tuesday for third term, and it will be tough for those who did not save for fees, or clear their bills in December, including school fees.

After schools closure in early December, most parents went big for parties popular in the festive season when many families travel upcountry and others to the sandy beaches to wrap up the year.

But all that is now over.

“We are back to town and life must continue. We will deal with fees and other challenges,” said Kevin Ng’etich, even the landlord will have to wait. This is January.”

More challenging is the fact that the calendar year 2022 has four terms.

This follows a government directive that this year will have four academic terms to cover for time lost during the lockdown that started in March 2020 forcing the closure of schools for the rest of the year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We are back to the reality,” said Michael Mwangi, who has three children at a school in Westlands, Nairobi, “after partying for Christmas and New Year, we are back to dig deeper in our pockets for fees and other bills. It is indeed a tough time. I hope the school will agree to have installments.”

Schools were set to re-open Tuesday for third term, a continuation from the 2021 academic year and they are expected to close for a few days late February or early March in preparation for the first term followed by the second and third terms–all within this calender year of 2022.

Traditionally, each academic and calender year has three terms.

“2022 will be hectic for students and parents in terms of learning and ensuring we have the fees on time. There isn’t much to do, we just have to bear shoulder the burden,” Mary Atieno, a guardian said Monday as schools prepared to open for the third term on Tuesday.

A parent Mario Mutegi who was in a bookshop in Nairobi said he is equally worried of the pressure ahead.

“It’s a catch 22, where you look at it at both sides. As a parent, they will be pressured in terms of ensuring that the pupils are in school but at the same times we know this has been done to ensure that time lost is recovered. We will withstand the pressure so that our children are not affected much,”  he said.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said the regular academic year will commence in January 2023.

With the myriad cases of school arson witnessed last year, parents have called upon the ministry of education to put in place measures to end the menace.

“Children require counseling and monitoring so that they have proper coping mechanisms to withstand the pressure when it comes to the tight school calendar. We need to have teachers ensure that all students are in the same page,” Mutegi added.

Others however, said schools have the responsibility to tame arson in schools.

“Let’s teach our children the way they should behave. In my case, I will teach my children patience to understand that this disruption is only for a short time. By,2023 the school calendar will be back to normal,” Nahashon Maina said.

A spot check in bookshop centers saw minimal activity of parents buying stationeries and books.

Most of the parents who spoke to Capital FM expressed their frustration in meeting the requirement of education needs amid the pandemic and strict timelines.

“Everything has moved so fast and now children are going back to school. We are from the holiday and boom we have to prepare for school and meet all the education needs. But it’s what it is,” said Alex Kariuki, a parent.

Linus Macharia, a parent in Nairobi County lamented that the current fee capitation by the Ministry of Education still doesn’t address the gap in terms of alleviating the burden of fees.

“They have subsidized the fee, but the education needs, and demands are so high. For example, now am being forced to buy things that are close to Sh 25,000. The fee subsidy actually doesn’t work on one of my kids since the school is private,” said Macharia.