NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 8 – The Ministry of Education on Monday announced a plan to distribute 7.5 million face masks to schools with 3 million masks ring-fenced for pre-primary learners in informal settlements.
Learners in Grade 4 to Grade 8 and secondary students will receive 2.25 million masks, the Ministry of Education said.
The 7.5 million face masks were unveiled by the Ministry of Health to support needy and most vulnerable students including those from low income backgrounds.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha schools with a higher enrollment rate, those in informal settlements, special schools and schools located in pockets of poverty will be given priority.
“The distribution will be cascaded to the regional and county levels. We have tasked the field officers to utilize the outlined criteria to select schools to benefit from the masks, which will be distributed as we receive them from the Ministry of Health,” the CS said during a tour of Mwiki Primary School in Nairobi.
Magoha said sustained efforts have been put in place to ensure that learners are safe in schools, and lauded stakeholders who have been providing masks and sanitation booths to learning institutions.
He urged parents to provide their children with masks, noting that they have now become part of the school uniform.
Magoha reported 15 million learners had reported back to school since the resumption of in-person learning on January 4, following a prolonged break triggered by the outbreak of the coronavirus in March 2020.
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