Abolish boarding schools, they have outlived their usefulness

A dormitory at Bahati PCEA Girls Secondary School in Bahati Sub County, Nakuru on January 18, 2020. One Student died. [Harun Wathari, Standard]

The history of boarding schools in Kenya dates back to 1902 when Nairobi School, formerly The Prince of Wales, was established. It was followed by Maseno Government School in 1906, Tumutumu Mission School and Kenya High (1908), Thogoto School, now Thogoto Teacher Training College (1910), Kabaa Boys High School (1923), Alliance High School (1926), Yala High School (1927). These then opened a floodgate of similar institutions across the country in subsequent years.

According to the Ministry of Education records, these institutions were established by the colonial government in partnership with church missionary societies with the cardinal aim of 'enlightening and polishing' or assimilating African children into European. Boarding schools were established in the country for indigenous people as part of a wider scheme to eradicate, defeat or evade negative effects that came as a result of engaging in retrogressive cultures like Female Genital Mutilation, child marriage, nomadism, pastoralism, early family responsibilities (child labour) and other related vices and cultural barriers to access education.