Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has banned morning and night preps in primary schools.

He has issued a warning to heads of schools and teachers who force students to wake up very early for morning classes and sleep late after evening remedial classes.

Machogu said that, onwards, students will not be allowed to report to schools at the break of dawn. The schools also will be mandated to release pupils before dusk.

CS Machogu opined that, per the school curriculum, learning times are between 8:00 pm and 3:45 pm. The remainder of the day should be used to rest and for pupils to do personal revision.

“As we resume our normal education calendar, it is clearly stipulated in the curriculum that learning begins at 8 am and ends at 3:45 pm. We are subjecting our learners to unnecessary struggles by waking them at 4 am to attend lessons in schools by 6 am,” maintained the CS.

“You will meet students walking on the streets very early in the morning heading to school for remedial lessons. I have seen some buses ferrying students at 10 p as they head back home. We will not allow that,” Machogu added.

He urged the schools to stick to the guidelines from the Ministry of Education to make learning more enjoyable.

“Let’s not subject our children to a lot of stress which affects their mental health. We want to make learning fun and likable,” he said.

“Our children should rest and have enough sleep. Let children be children and enjoy their schooling life.”

The Kenya Primary Schools Headteachers Association (KEPSHA) hit back at Machogu, claiming to have insufficient numbers of teachers to complete the syllabus on time.

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They argued that the current average teacher-pupil ratio in schools countrywide is 1:50

“There is an acute shortage of teachers in public primary schools, making it hard to finish the syllabus in the stipulated time,” read a report from KEPSHA.

“We request the Ministry to train and employ more teachers so that it will be possible to adhere to the released school calendar.”

CS Machogu’s ban on remedial classes has elicited mixed reactions from Kenyans, with most wondering what students would be doing with all the free time on their hands.

Here are some of the comments:

Johnie Muia: Smart move I used to sleep in all morning preps. No matter how hard I studied myself, it didn’t help.

JdGuchua: CBC doesn’t require a lot of cramming

Melankhisa: Kwanza morning preps, unapatana na watoto 6:00 am ati wanaenda shule.

BrianOhanga: Why do that? Walimu hukua motivated na remedials. Hii Docket itamshinda

Rawnixon: Implementation is the elephant in the room. He also banned boarding in primary school, but the hardened ground said no. 

Mrock254: Ezekiel Machogu anadhani kila shule iko Kisii. Kuna places watu husoma usiku bila any interference.