It’s a fat lie; not all children are learning, digitally or otherwise

Kenyans are eager to know the fate of their children as regards education, more so at the primary and secondary levels, following the Covid-19 disruption of the school calendar.

Last month, the government closed all learning institutions prematurely in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

With national exams scheduled for the end of the year, loss of learning hours portends the likelihood of their postponement.

The Education ministry has, on at least two occasions, allayed fears of postponing the exams. This is understandable, given that schools lost only three weeks in their first term.

Normally, that period would be dedicated to internal tests — which can, nevertheless, be foregone.

In any case, we had suffered more time wastage occasioned by teachers’ strikes, the longest spanning almost a whole term. Remedial measures, however questionable, were put in place.

Then, things were not as abnormal; that explains the current fuss. The anxiety among parents and other stakeholders is informed by the uncertainty of when the Covid-19 pandemic will end.

Methinks we shouldn’t push the ministry so hard since they are equally in the dark. They can only appropriate scenarios and a possible course of action.

Going by views from several platforms, many Kenyans are outraged by the government’s insistence that children continue to learn on remote mode.

Various reasons for that scepticism have been advanced, most of them touching on infrastructure.

But even if the requisite resources were made available, expert teachers will tell you that teaching does not guarantee learning.

A number of factors determine the latter, among them the learning environment, which has a big impact on the state of the student’s mind.

Somebody should help me understand how hungry children in poverty-stricken slums will attend the lessons being broadcast by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

I won’t mention the impracticality of five children drooling over one smartphone in the name of learning. I may be unaware that every child in the country owns one, and that internet charges are zilch.

What of radio and television sets? These are for entertainment, if you don’t mind hearing the truth.

Some learners may access all imaginable resources but still fail to concentrate. Teachers will tell you how hard they work to engage children in learning activities. It is not all rosy.

How, then, will parents, most of whom are not teachers of any shade, manage in the prevailing abnormal circumstances?

This bitter reality invites us to rethink of the value of online learning, which I am not opposed to. The future is in blended learning.

This must be pursued, gradually and systematically, with the ministry sensitive to the infirmities of the vulnerable.

Wycliffe Osabwa, lecturer, Alupe University College, Busia