KSSSA, Ministry of Education to meet over fate of School Games

Officials from the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) will next week meet with the Ministry of Education to seek a solution over the disrupted school games programmes.

KSSSA chairman Peter Orero said they will hold a meeting with the other education stakeholders on Tuesday and subsequently present their resolutions to the Education PS Dr. Julius Jwan, who will then announce the fate of sporting activities in schools.

“We’re going to seek an audience with the PS next week to discuss the possibility of reviving the games within our institutions and even start planning for the World Games in China, if it will be possible,” he told Citizen Digital.

“But it is important that we resume these activities because the students are back in schools and exercising is also one of the proven ways of keeping the virus at bay, so we’ll urge the ministry to take keen interest on the issue.”

President Uhuru Kenyatta banned co-curricular activities in schools for 90 days in January when learning resumed, 10 months after closure due to coronavirus pandemic, but during his last address on May 1 he did not touch on the matter even as he allowed schools to reopen as per the calendar after relaxing virus restrictions.

Orero warned that should the ban on games continue, it would potentially prove disastrous for the learners who depend on co-curricular activities for their future livelihoods.

“We’ve ‘lost a generation’ in sports because the students who’ve just completed their studies and who were talented in sports did not get an opportunity to showcase their talents. It will be difficult to revive those talents and that’s why we don’t want to see other talents going to waste this year.”

He added that KSSSA is in constant discussions with the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports (FEASSSA) on how school games will continue to keep its rightful place in school curriculums in the region.

“It’s actually in Kenya where we’re not sure if the school games will return because in the other countries they’ve announced resumption of sports activities in schools. However, if all goes well Kenya will still be the host of the East African Games as it was earlier planned before the pandemic struck.”