School fires: Time for parents to take matters into their own hands

Fire outbreak in a school dormitory.[File, Standard]

The nation is still reeling in shock following the deaths last week of 16 students and the wounding of another 70 in a fire incident at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County.

Once again, Kenyans are asking the same questions they ask almost every year after similar tragedies. They are also calling for action against the students who lit the fire and those who failed to avert this tragedy so that 'such an incident never occurs again'. The government is vowing, as it always does, to take firm action against teachers and education officials who dropped the ball.

But all and sundry know that the public outrage and government threats will lead nowhere. Yes, a few people might in the end be punished. But in two or three weeks, after the hapless victims of this tragedy are buried, Kenyans' collective amnesia will strike again. This incident will be forgotten by the bereaved families.

We make this conclusion because, since the Kyanguli Secondary School, Machakos County, fire that consumed the lives of 67 students, many students have died in similar incidents almost on an annual basis, the public has become angry, and the government has vowed 'never again'. But more lives have been lost.

No amount of public anger and knee-jerk reactions by the government will end these tragedies. It is also apparent that the government and teachers have largely abdicated their role of protecting learners in boarding schools.

Without a doubt, it is parents who suffer the most when children are killed in these fires. From what we have witnessed in the last three decades, it would be foolhardy to continue wholly entrusting the security of our children to teachers and the State. Time has come for parents to take matters into their own hands.

Teachers and the Education Ministry have failed in implementing the Safety Standards Manual for Schools, which is supposed to save lives. That has been cited as the main reason why there were many fatalities in the Gilgil incident.

Among others, the manual requires dormitories to have doors at both ends. They should also have an additional emergency exit in the middle and be easily accessible. Doors must open outwards and must not be locked or closed from the outside when students are inside. A minimum spacing of 1.2 metres is required between beds, and corridors must be at least two metres wide. In addition, windows must not have grills. If they do, the grills must be hinged to open easily for quick evacuation. The manual also has other prescriptions, including for school buses.

It is time for parents to familiarise themselves with this manual so that whenever they are invited to school for annual general meetings, academic clinics and so forth, they should make assessing whether their children study and sleep in a safe environment their first agenda. If they find something amiss in the dormitory or classroom, they should demand that it be addressed. The safety of learners is too important to be left to teachers and the government.