Kenya Schools ill equipped in face of disasters

Reports by SAM OTIENO

It is emerging that most schools on Kenya have no capacity to handle emergencies, and are yet to even implement safety standards manual produced two years ago.

Consequently, the Ministry of Education is coming up with a programme to restore sanity in the institutions of learning.

Schools management and some parents admit that some schools are sitting on a time bomb should there be an emergency.

Last month, two boys were burnt to death in their sleeping quarters at Endarasha Boys Secondary School dormitory in Nyeri County after some students torched the dormitory.

The gruesome deaths are an indictment of the institution’s management for failing to adhere to the laid down safety procedures.

The dormitory had its windows fitted with grills and wire-mesh, which the Ministry of Education outlawed in the safety manuals.

Escaped from fire

Though the majority of the students escaped from the fire, the two boys were trapped inside and are suspected to have suffocated in fumes before burning to death.

No refresher courses

According to Education PS James ole Kiyiapi, it will be mandatory for head teachers and their deputies to undergo refresher courses in administration under a wider ambitious plan to reform the education sector.

Poor management skills are partly to blame for cases of indiscipline that are rising sharply in secondary schools, which in some cases has led to several deaths and injuries.

In addition, students will be involved in decision-making within the school environment and the system well defined.

The system kicked off with the election of school prefects by fellow students to give them a feeling of participation in a democratic process.

Initially, the school administration handpicked prefects making them look like agents of their appointing authority.

A serious problem

Prof Kiyiapi, who admitted that the schools are facing a serious problem, said the measures are also aimed at curbing incidents of unrests that have dogged schools in the recent past as well as creating a safer living environment in schools.

"Most principals have no training to handle social stress and a rapid changing environment, thus, the need to conduct training afresh," said the PS.

The move would equip the school managers with public relation skills to ensure harmonious relations between the administration, students and the wider community.

The Endarasha tragedy also has brought to light the congestion in most public schools, and taken the country down memory lane to some of the worst arson-related deaths in schools, including that of Kyanguli Mixed Secondary School in which 67 students lost their lives after arsonists locked the dormitory and set it alight.

Recommendations by a Commission of Inquiry into the Bombolulu Girls Secondary School Fire Tragedy led by retired Bishop Lawi Imathiu and appointed by former President Moi are gathering dust on the shelves.

When the Endarasha fire erupted, the prelate faulted the Government for failure to learn from the 1998 Bombolulu and the 2001 Kyanguli fire tragedies that claimed lives of students.

But Kiyiapi last week said he is yet to get a copy of the report.

According to Kiyiapi, private firms will conduct the training of principals. The private firms will also handle disasters such as fires and riots and disasters that may occur within a school environment.

Conduct drills

It will be mandatory for schools to conduct drills that will ensure safety and test the preparedness of an institution in case of a disaster.

The managers will be trained on how to handle disaster management equipment such as fire extinguishers and first aid kits.

Students will use the first two days of a term to conduct emergency drills to ensure they are prepared to handle disaster.

First Aid will also be taught as a subject to impart upon students emergency management skills.

The reforms are on course but have been temporarily set aside for the ministry personnel to monitor the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations.

"Once the examinations are over, the reform agenda will proceed with some being implemented immediately while others will be introduced gradually," said Kiyiapi.

Schools, he said, will be given green light to procure services of qualified firms to offer training to ensure running of schools become a participatory affair.

In the new arrangement, students will be part and parcel of decision-making to ensure their interests are adopted in the administration of schools.

The PS admitted that few head teachers have the capacity to handle the "modern generation student".

Must change

"School management must change and unless we address the issue of old fashioned management then we are likely to experience the same problem," said Kiyiapi.

He attributed the changing trend in schools to the ever-changing lifestyle from a traditional community to a more modern generation.

"There is a weakening of the traditional communal society and nowadays we are experiencing a more individualistic way of life," he said.

In the past, he said, schools used to be owned by communities unlike now when the school system is more of an individual affair.

He also attributed the problem to the emergence of drugs in the society, tribalism and political factors.

According to Kiyiapi, some of the reforms will be encompassed in the current policy framework, while others adopted as a work plan within the school system.

"In most schools, it is the deputy principals who are in charge of discipline. You’ll find that these are people who grew up in a traditional society and still use traditional methods of punishment to rein in indisciplined students," he said.

Other incidents involving students include the October 25, 2003 classroom fires at Kinyui Boys Secondary School to protest a ban on video shows and discos and a July 19, 2004 incident at Mbiuni High School in Machakos where a student died after colleagues torched dormitories and classrooms and looted the food store.