Tough rules for boarding schools shut down due to safety concerns

The government has issued fresh conditions for the reopening of 348 boarding schools shut down for failing to meet safety standards.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said each school was given an institution-specific report with highlighted gaps that must be addressed ahead of January opening.

He said schools that feel they were unfairly targeted may seek court redress. “If somebody feels we have closed that section without following the manual or unfairly or where somebody has not visited, the quickest thing to do is even go to court and get it opened,” the CS told senators yesterday.

Ogamba spoke as The Standard established that some private school owners may move to court to compel the government to open the institutions come January.

Sources in the Kenya Private School Association said they will not allow the ministry to close them down. “We shall move to court because it seems this is the language this government understands,” said a senior official.

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On Thursday, Ogamba said schools that will have made corrections will apply for fresh inspections upon which only those that will pass the test, will reopen.

Reports seen by The Standard from sampled schools reveal that the ministry has set tough rules which the institutions must observe to reopen. The ministry wants schools whose boarding facilities are not up to standard, constructed afresh with strict adherence to safety. All boarding facilities with triple decker beds and wooden beds must be replaced with the ideal ones.

To ease congestion in the schools whose boarding sections were closed, the ministry wants the spacing between beds be adjusted to comply with Safety Standards Manual for Schools in Kenya (2008).

The sampled reports also reveal that most assessed institutions had bed spacing of less than 1.2 metres while the corridor or pathway space was less than 2 metres. This, the reports say, is contrary to safety guidelines.

On Thursday, Ogamba told MPs that moving forward, all schools must carry out admissions to the boarding sections based on available bed capacity. “There is a safety manual that each boarding school is supposed to adhere to and this is the one used to audit whether they met the requirements and those ones that did not meet were informed individually that if you do not rectify, you will not open in January as a boarding, you will continue running as a day school,” Ogamba said.

Another condition is that pre-primary school learners should not be admitted in boarding institutions. It also emerged that boarding schools must install CCTV cameras before opening. 

Speaking in the Senate, Ogamba said it will not be automatic for the shut boarding schools to be open in January.

“It is not possible for us to say that where we have gone and found that you do not meet because of public outcry, we allow you to run a boarding section that we know does not meet the safety standards. That one, as a ministry, we are not going to do,” Ogamba said.

He however opened a window for the institutions, saying they have until January to comply and seek approval. “Each school has a report of the discrepancy or the failures to meet the safety standard. Those who have rectified the gaps, they invite our officers and if the school meets the standards they will be reopened,” Ogamba said. 

Kenya Private Schools Association chairman Charles Ochome said they are in talks with the ministry.

“We have held discussions with the Ministry of Education and the institutions are addressing the gaps identified during the audit and they will be reassessed before January for compliance,” said Ochome.

During the audit, Nairobi was found to have the highest number of affected schools, with 44 institutions slated for closure of their boarding facilities. Other affected counties include Kisii with 13 schools, Kiambu (13), Kericho (26), Nandi (15), and Uasin Gishu with 19.

The Standard has also established that for the schools to reopen, the ministry wants heads of the institutions to reside in the school. This means boarding institutions must implement this provision by January. The ministry also wants night guards stationed around the boarding facilities to ensure safety of learners. The ministry insists the team guarding girl’s facilities should have female guards among the squad.

Also, boarding schools should have designated fire assembly points, conduct regular fire drills for learners and staff, and have an elaborate evacuation plan.

This means the schools have a few weeks to install basic firefighting equipment and train staff and learners on their use, and how to mitigate risk preparedness and response.

The government also demands that a boarding register must be maintained, and accurate roll call taken daily in the dormitories. This means boarding schools whose boarding registers are not regularly updated will not be approved to reopen.

Among the conditions, the ministry also wants Boards of Management to employ matrons for girls’ dormitories and patrons/wardens for boys’ dormitories.

The boarding facilities should be equipped with adequate and appropriate sanitation facilities as per ministry guidelines.

Ogamba explained to MPs that during inspections, toilets in some schools did not have doors. And in some cases, the toilet shutters were not age appropriate especially for pre-primary learners where full doors were provided instead of half doors.

The ministry also notes that in most schools assessed, sanitation units for boys and girls were located in the same direction/area.

And now, the ministry wants that in mixed schools, boys’ and girls’ sanitation areas must be located in different and separate directions to offer privacy. This means boarding schools will have to make new arrangements for sanitation facilities which may include constructing new ones.

The ministry also wants all drinking water be treated before use in all boarding schools.

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