Ministry orders safety audit in all boarding schools in Kenya

Parents at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Kieni West, Nyeri, where 21 pupils died after fire outbreak in a dormitory. [Kibata Kihu, Standard]

The Ministry of Education has commissioned an audit on all boarding schools to assess safety standards even as it emerged that there have been 107 school fire incidents in the country and 239 cases of unrest in the country this year alone.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos, revealed that the fires were recorded between January 2024 to September 16, 2024 and noted that 36 out of the 107 school fires occurred during the third term mainly targeted dormitories.

“We have consequently commissioned an audit of all boarding schools, to assess their compliance with the safety standards manual to ensure that they are compliant,” remarked Migos.

Appearing before the Education committee, he explained that the audit would help identify cases of non-compliance, indicate areas where offices have failed, as well as recommend the necessary action to be taken on both the school and the officers.

“The cases of unrest have been informed by a number of causes ranging from strained relationships, poor communication between school administrators and students, peer pressure, interference by local communities, examination anxiety, fear, drug and alcohol abuse as well as general indiscipline,” added the CS.

Further, he said the ministry has been working with the criminal justice system to ensure that those responsible for the destruction of property through arson and loss of lives are held accountable. “Each incident is investigated and dealt with according to the attendant circumstances. We have, however, adopted a multi-stakeholder approach,” he said.