Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has directed that all institutions of basic learning across the country be closed from August 2^nd ahead of the August 9 elections.

In a circular issued on Monday afternoon, Magoha asked that all students from all basic education institutions proceed on their half-term break effective Tuesday, August 2, and resume on Thursday, August 11.

“As you are all aware, Kenya is scheduled to conduct its National Elections on Tuesday, August 9, 2022.”

“Therefore, following further consultations, I hereby convey the Government’s decision on the immediate closure of all Basic Education institutions with effect from Tuesday, August 2, 2022, until Wednesday, August 10, 2022, to ensure that preparations and conduct of the upcoming elections is carried out seamlessly,” Magoha said.

Initially the ministry had directed that the midterm break kick off on August 6^th.

Magoha further noted that the opening dates were subject to change in case of a repeat election.

Public schools in Kenya have always been used as polling stations during elections. A recent Gazette notice by the IEBC revealed that over 250 institutions would be used as tallying centres in the upcoming August 9 poll. These include primary, secondary schools, universities and technical training institutios.

The Ministry has been in a race against time to normalize the academic calendar in January 2023 following the 2020 disruption that was occasioned by outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, that saw schools in Kenya closed for almost an year.

The 2022 academic year has four terms instead of the traditional three, as the government tries to normalize the calendar by January 2023 when the first class of junior highschoolers based on the new Competency based curriculum (CBC) is expected to kickstart.

The current academic year consists of four national exams; Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE),  Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), as well as Grade Three and Six exams under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).