Yesterday, primary and secondary schools in Kenya reopened their doors after almost 10 months of total closure (only the last two classes had resumed lessons in October last year in order to prepare for exams).
It was not an easy day to manage, not least because the response of students and their families to the resumption of lessons was almost total, with some difficulties in distributing sanitisers and managing the reduced capacity of the classrooms, so much so that many teachers followed the Ministry of Education's instructions, a sort of plan B: to hold lessons outdoors under the trees, dividing the class in two but above all applying the law of ubiquity.
Other obstacles include the state of desks and chairs, and the roofs of many structures, especially in rural areas, but it must be said that the happiness of parents at seeing their children back in school has led communities to help school workers and organise themselves to buy masks and soap.
Education Minister George Magoha was pleased with the level of compliance with COVID-19 protocols in schools across the country, as students turned up almost everywhere wearing masks as required.
Visiting Kenya's largest public school, Olimpic Primary School in Kibera which has 4700 students, he addressed the media.
"As you have seen, apart from the crowding," he said, "all the students are wearing their masks and the teachers are ready to teach, so let us support them. Our wish is for all students to come back to school and be admitted, but only where there is space. On our side, we are trying to solve the issue of social distances, while students, teachers and parents will always have to wash their hands".
Not easy either in Kenya, where schools often lack water.
This year's atypical emergency timetable, according to the government's intentions, will end in April for those who have exams and the first week of June for the others, and then start again in July with the 2021 calendar, which will have fewer breaks and may end in March 2022.
Another problem that is still keeping children away from school is transport. But it especially concerns those who have remained in their native places or those of their families until the very end and now have difficulty finding the means (and funds) to return to their place of residence.

(photo Daily Nation - Facebook)