Form One Reporting Date Postponed.
The Ministry of Education has announced a postponement of Form One students‘ reporting to their respective secondary schools.
Dr. Julius Jwan, Principal Secretary of Basic Education, stated in a circular sent to school heads and the National Parents Association on Wednesday, April 27, that Form One students will return to school on Wednesday, May 4.
This follows Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i’s declaration of May 3 as a public holiday to commemorate Idd-ul-Fitr.
“The CS for Interior gazetted May 3 as a public holiday, which is the date the Form One students were expected to report. Consequently, it has been decided that the reporting date will be Thursday May 4. Please ensure that all schools are notified of the change,” read the statement in part.
Idd-ul-Fitr is a fast-breaking festival that marks the end of Muslims’ month-long fasting during Ramadan. The holiday is usually celebrated after the moon is seen.
“It is notified for the general information of the public that the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Co-ordination of National Government in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 2 of the Public Holidays Act, declares that Tuesday, May 3, 2022, shall be a public holiday to mark Idd-ul-Fitr,” read part of the Gazette notice.
PS Jwan’s declaration comes as a relief to parents who are rushing to buy admission materials and other necessities while also dealing with a price increase in the market.
Parents have also expressed concern about school-issued directives requiring uniforms to be purchased from specific retailers. The majority of them claimed that recommended retail stores charge higher prices than standard prices.
“We have been asked to only buy uniforms from specific shops which are selling them very expensively overburdening us even as we prepare to take our children back to school,” one parent lamented.
On April 11, Education CS Prof George Magoha warned school heads against making unreasonable demands on students when admitting them to school.
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Among the items are exercise equipment, textbooks, and storybooks, which he stated the government would provide, as well as non-academic items such as hockey sticks, machetes, and slashers.
Magoha also requested that principals admit students regardless of whether or not they can pay their school fees. He assured them that the government had already released funds to the institutions for the start of the 2022 academic year, which began on Monday, April 25.
