School faces closure over lack of classes and latrines

A school in Lwandeti in Lugari Sub County is facing closure over lack of classrooms and toilets.

At least a half of the pupils of Frank Primary School are learning under trees whereas the rest are learning in mud walled classrooms that are congested.

The school only has one classroom that was built by the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) two years ago.

Parents are now raising concerns over the security of their children since the mud walled classes are now getting washed away by the rains that have wreaked havoc in the area.

In the same village, already two schools namely Savala and Lumakanda Township primary school have been closed down by the department of public health over lack of toilets and classrooms.

Following the closure, over 2,500 pupils are at home over unknown period of time.

According to Frank Primary School head teacher, Ms Josephine Imbandu, teachers sit under a tree which serves as their staffroom and when rains set in, they shelter in one of the classes together with pupils.

Ms Imbandu said the school is in urgent need of putting up modern classrooms to save it from being shut down.

“We have a total population of 330 pupils comprising of 185 girls and 145 boys. They share six pit latrines that are almost full and we are afraid of a cholera outbreak,” said Ms Imbandu.

Agitated parents, who spoke to The Standard yesterday led by Mr Wilberforce Siboe, said urgent measures must be taken to cushion the pupils from being sent home when the school is shut down.

Mr Siboe said the dilapidated classrooms are posing a grave danger to pupils since it can collapse any time.

He said teachers also operate along the verandas of the classrooms and under trees since the school doesn’t have an administration block to house them.

Ms Salome Okiya said pupils at the Early Child Development and Education (ECDE) section learn under a tree and appealed to area MP Ayub Savula and Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya to come to their aid.

“Apart from having dilapidated structures with pit latrines that are now producing an odoour, they sit on the floor as they don’t have desks. We also don’t have a library where books can be kept,” said Ms Salome.

Adding “Pupils have now resorted to relieve themselves in the nearby maize plantations and this can lead to outbreak of water borne diseases such as cholera and bilharzia,”.

She said the community living around the school is poor and cannot raise funds to put up modern structures.