The Ministry of Education has banned all early morning preps and late evening classes to allow them to travel home on time and get adequate time to rest.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu directed that no student should report to school before the break of dawn and they should also end their classes before dusk.

“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,’’ noted Machogu.

Machogu says curriculum work can be covered within the stipulated time and warned that the government would not permit any learner to be exposed to too much work in school.

“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 10pm as they head back home. We will not allow that,” the CS warned.

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Machogu warned administrators against turning their learning institutions into prisons and instead allow children in the country to thrive mentally, physically and psychologically.

‘‘Let’s not subject our children to a lot of stress which affects their mental health. We want to make learning fun and likeable. Our children should rest and have enough sleep,’’ he added.

He also indicated that the ministry is revising the number of subjects that will be covered by learners who are joining Junior Secondary School (JSS) to avoid overburdening them.


‘‘As a ministry, we are also concerned with the number of subjects the children are going to cover in the new set-up. They are many and we will streamline so that it is not a burden,’’ indicated the CS.

Currently, 12 compulsory subjects have been approved for JSS learners and they are expected to pick a maximum of two optional subjects.

The subjects are Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, Integrated Science, Agriculture, Social Studies, Health Education, Religious Education, Business Studies, Pre-Technical and Pre-Career Education, Life Skills, Physical Education and Sports.

They will also pick one or two optional subjects from Virtual Arts, Performing Arts, Home Science, Computer Science, Foreign Language, Sign Language or Indigenous language.