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Kenyan Teachers Say Schools Not Ready to Reopen in Midst of Pandemic

Mohammed Yusuf

   NAIROBI - Kenya's plan to open primary and secondary schools next week
   is getting resistance from the leading teachers' association, which
   says the schools are not well prepared to follow health protocols to
   prevent the spread of coronavirus. They say the schools need at least
   double the space they had before COVID-19 to keep children safe.

   Some 16 million Kenyan children are expected to begin classes Monday
   after being out of school for nearly 10 months due to COVID-19
   pandemic.

   Nicholas Gathemia is the chairman of Kenya Primary Schools Head
   Teachers Association. He says schools will find it difficult to follow
   the health protocols meant to fight the coronavirus.

   "The facilities we have are not adequate, they are inadequate to
   maintain the issue of social distance," Gathemia said. "We need three
   or four times the number of classes we have. Right now, we are facing
   challenges with grade 4 and grade 8 and I think if the rest of the
   school turns up it will be a big challenge."

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