Perhaps, Asumbi was a disaster waiting to happen

Nobody! Not one of you locks their children in a room and leaves for the night. And that is the least of the horror filtering in from Asumbi Boarding Primary School, in Homa Bay County, where ten pupils were burnt alive in a fire that broke out in their dormitory on Wednesday night.

Education minister Mutula Kilonzo has received very good Press from these columns for his work ethic. Sections of the media have also followed his brushes with the clergy, teachers, parent representatives, and colleagues, but all those pale in comparison to what we shall demand of his office today.

The minister could in a few short sentences and actions make sure no other school administration condemns another child to suffering or death. Mutula needs to do very little: Pick the David Koech taskforce recommendations that is available in his ministry and use it as a checklist against what is at Asumbi.

So, could the entire teaching fraternity of Asumbi Boarding Primary School be sent home immediately as an inquiry of the magnitude that probed Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza’s conduct get to the bottom of the tragedy?

At the risk of shouting “I-Told-You-So” can the Ministry of Education fully back the minister’s earlier ban on holiday tuition? What did the school’s board of governors and Teachers Parents Association know about the building structure safety in Asumbi?

Granted the Standard Seven and Eight pupils attending the August holiday tuition in the school cannot speak for themselves now, what does Asumbi Catholic Church Parish nuns know since they are the ones running the school? And if they were alive to any material fact of an unsuitable building, what did they do to forestall a tragedy?

Even if initial reports point to an electric fault as the likely cause of the blaze, why were the doors reportedly locked from the outside? More disheartening is to try and determine what the watchman was trying to achieve when he is reported to have physically prevented the early wave of rescuers who were attracted by the massive blaze?

Also, pity the Police officers and Kenya Red Cross Society volunteers who are often the ones saddled with the grim responsibility of securing crime scenes regardless of whether the charred remains may belong to their relatives, friends or colleagues.

Can police treat this as a case of criminal negligence? Is there not a feeling that people term such tragedies “accident” because no one is ever surcharged or punished?

In the absence of this, what is to stop shoddy builders, administrators who cut corners, and policymakers that do not have a follow-on plan or post-implementation monitoring mechanism sit pretty as the rest of the world sears in pain?

SUSPECT PLANS

What became of the recommendations of the Parliamentary report after a similar fire reduced 67 students of Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos to ash in March 2001?

A quick recap of the recommendations that received presidential assent was that all school buildings must have sufficient and marked exits; ventilation had to be considered in any future building plans; and fire extinguishers were supposed to be part of the school budget.

Further, training of fire marshals and inclusion of safety training in the curriculum were floated by the report that was handed to Government. Did the State fail again to put its money where its mouth is or did the President’s edict on school safety pass for a roadside decision?

What follow-up did the Koech taskforce make after making startling findings on the ill health of the education system? What response can we expect from the Director of Public Prosecutions and Teachers Service Commission? What of Kenya National Union Teachers, Kenya National Association of Parents, child welfare services, advocacy groups, and any reasonable manager of a public institution?

Is there an obsession with holiday tuition fees as the be all-end all objective? Has the drive to drill children into pushing schools into the top positions in national examinations obliterated any other consideration in nurturing the youth? How many principals and teaching staff have read former Starehe Boys’ Centre Director, Geoffrey Griffin’s book on the principles and practice of school management excellence?

How many of them are familiar with the parliamentary taskforce report recommendations on school safety? Did anyone stand up to criticise the lack of firefighting facilities and suspect building plans in their schools? Is there anyone left out there with an iota of conscience? Should we throw away this newspaper and wait for the next school tragedy to “compare notes”?