On Monday February 3, a stampede happened at Kakamega primary school as pupils were going home at 5pm. The incident claimed the lives of 18 pupils.
On the morning of Tuesday February 4, Education Cabinet Secretary George Mahoga accompanied by Government Spokesman Cyrus Oguna and Basic Education PS Dr Belio Kipsang visited the school.
As Kenyans come to terms with the tragic news of the deaths of the pupils, below are facts about Kakamega Primary School.
· Kakamega Primary school is a public school located in Lurambi constituency.
· Number of dead pupils - 14 (nine girls and five boys).
· Total student population – 3,128 pupils.
· Number of classes – 51.
· KCPE 2019 results – the school had more than 30 students who scored over 400 marks. In the county, four of their pupils were among the top 50 best performers.
· The school has 296 pupils in their Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) classes. They are taught by six teachers.
· The school has 74 teachers. Four are employed by the Board of Management and 70 by the Teachers service Commission.
· KCPE mean score in the last five years – 2015 - 328 marks, 2016 - 322 marks, 2017 – 326 marks, 2018 - 338 marks, and 2019 – 336 marks. ?
Law society asks government to act with speed
The Law Society of Kenya via its chairman Allen Gichuhi has mourned the death of the children killed in the stampede. LSK has asked government to move with speed and “probe the matter to its core and come up with a plausible way forward which will ensure such a tragedy never happens again.”
“Any death is one too many, and it is even more painful when the life of a vibrant young person full of hope is snuffed away by the cruel hands of death, more so under circumstances where such deaths are avoidable,” said LSK in their statement.
