Schools in Kenya have reopened. After a long period of being closed since March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, school children can finally return to class.
This is a long-awaited step as many children could barely learn at home due to e.g. a lack of technical equipment and learning materials for distance or self-learning. For these children, a lot of subject matter has been missed, which now needs to be caught up on. The risk of early marriage, pregnancies and child labour also increased substantially in the months when the children were permanently at home.
There is great relief now that the children can go back to school. The children we support through our local partner organisation YISOG are also back in class. After almost a full year without classes, they are repeating the school year, as almost all children do, to close learning gaps.
There is also concern about whether the Covid-19 protection measures can be met in all schools. However, the best possible efforts are being made to protect children, teachers and their families.
Despite all the challenges, we are happy for the children and our partner organisation YISOG that the kids are finally back in school and can learn together with their friends. This also brings back a bit of normality.
This is not a given for all children in disadvantaged families severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, as many families have lost their income and now cannot afford school fees and uniforms. As a result, it is feared that the number of school dropouts in Kenya will increase rapidly.
In particular in these difficult times, we would therefore like to express our gratitude to all our supporters, donors and especially sponsors who are contributing to the children being able to go back to school!