Covid-19 Pandemic Sees Kenyan School Staff Struggle

School is Still Out in Kenya

The education system in Kenya has taken a serious blow from the Covid-19 pandemic as many schools, closed since March 15 and scheduled to reopen in January 2021, many school teachers and staff have taken drastic measures in order to survive the imposed lockdown virus-prevention sanitary measures that see them on unpaid leave without job security.

Private vs Public

Many public schools whose teachers and staff have received salary payments from the government upon closures are generally in a better position.

However, private schools have been hit harder by the global health crisis — and as such, most teachers working in private schools in Kenya have not been paid salaries since April.

Over 300,000 staff working in private schools, including over 107,000 teachers, are mostly on unpaid leave according to Peter Ndoro, the CEO of Kenya's Private Schools Association.

The total loss of pay and uncertainty has affected the teachers ahead of the proposed resumption of school in 2021, warned Ndoro, "Private schools are unable to pay and sustain the employees on their payroll. So very many private schools since April have not been able to pay their teachers, their salaries and therefore requested that the teachers - together with other members of staff - to proceed on unpaid leave. This has really affected our teachers and we do not know whether they will have the psyche, the morale to come back and continue teaching our learners when we get to 2021 when the schools eventually reopen."

Pandemic Survival Mode

To survive, many of these teachers on unpaid leave have been forced to find other sources of income or new means of work. 

Kenya has reported 35,603 confirmed coronavirus cases with only 612 deaths and 22,047 recoveries.