Primary school shut for being unfit to host humans

Pupils at St. Peter's Kogola mixed primary school in Pap Onditi, Kisumu County in one of the classes. The school has been marked for closure by Public Health officials for having defective structures. [Denish Ochieng Standard]

The department of Public Health has ordered the closure of St Peters Kogola Primary School on hygiene grounds.

According to a report by Nyakach sub-county Public Health Officer Marie Amollo, an inspection done in the school on June 25, last year revealed the unhealthy conditions.

Classrooms hosting Pre-Primary pupils have particularly been marked. Others are the school kitchen and both the headmaster and his deputy’s offices.

“Block Two is widely cracked; you should not use it as it poses danger to the lives of the pupils and teachers. Provide a new block to accommodate PP1, PP2, Grades One, Two and Three,” reads the report in part.

On Friday last week, the school management board was in dilemma on how to communicate the news to the parents.

Many parents are still unaware of the damning report that led to the school’s closure. The school has 380 pupils.

Dilapidated latrines

The school has no urinal and no water supply. Pupils are forced to carry water to school for  drinking and sprinkling on their classrooms’ dusty floors.

The report gave the school management 21 days to implement a number of recommendations.

Some of the recommendations have to do with provision of better latrines for boys. The existing ones are dilapidated.

“Due to the bad sanitary condition, dirty classrooms and shortage of water, the school population is at risk of fecal-oral contamination and air-borne diseases,” the report reads.

“The cracked classroom walls also pose danger to the lives of pupils and teachers. Without quick action, the school is not safe to offer learning services to the pupils.”

No efforts

The school, however, has not made any efforts to improve the conditions.

“We tried our best to approach the various stakeholders when we received the report but no help has come forth. These days charging parents for any development projects in school is not allowed by the Government,” said Anthony Kere, the board chairman.

Head teacher John Mogwasi, who joined the school in May last year, said he was closely working with the board to seek funds to improve the state of the school.

“I joined the school only to be faced with these challenges. But I have a supportive board, which helped me negotiate for an extension to allow our KCPE candidates to sit their examinations despite the hard stance by the Public Health office. I hope some help will come soon so that the school is opened,” Mr Mogwasi said.