#Chickens replace students in closed Kenyan school

Chickens are being reared in a former classroom at the Mwea Brethren School in Kirinyaga county, Kenya.
AP

An educator who is one of many struggling to make money in Kenya after the country ordered schools to be closed until January because of the coronavirus pandemic has turned a private learning facility into a poultry farm, the Associated Press reports.

Beatrice Maina, the owner of the Mwea Brethren School – where chickens are now roaming the classrooms – says it is usually attended by more than 300 children and has 20-full time teachers.

Yet now it’s “a disaster as far as academics is concerned,” she says.

As the economy sputters, Maina is raising a different flock altogether in the empty classrooms.

Blackboards now display her notes on chicken rearing. Dates of deworming and data for feed have long replaced multiplication tables.

“I hope even my teachers are still doing something because life must continue,” she said.

Private schools in the East African nation say they have been hit especially hard. More than 300,000 staff are mostly on unpaid leave until classes resume, Peter Ndoro, CEO of Kenya’s Private Schools Association, told the Associated Press.

Schools in Kenya have been closed since March. Public schools are in a slightly better state because the government is paying some salaries for teachers and staff, Ndoro said.

But he worries about the spirits of his colleagues.

“This has really affected our teachers and we do not know if they will have the… morale to come back,” Ndoro said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.