Students in Baringo left stranded as church-sponsored school is closed indefinitely

Over 250 secondary school students have been sent home after their school was closed down following alleged mismanagement of finances.

Students of AIC Esageri Secondary School were last week Monday ordered to leave the school which has, for the last six months, been struggling to remain afloat.

Desperate parents and especially those who were eagerly waiting to see their children sit for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams were racing against time to secure places in other schools.

Empty desks

When The Standard toured the facility yesterday, students who had already secured spaces in other institutions, were busy emptying their desks and going through the clearance process.

A section of the community held peaceful demonstrations at Esageri trading centre asking the Government to intervene and revert the school to a public institution.

Speaking to The Standard, Koibatek District Education Officer (DEO) Richard Obonyo attributed the school’s closure to mismanagement.

“The issue is managerial, declining number of students and a decision by the school to admit students expelled from other schools due to indiscipline,” he said.

The education officer also faulted the management for failing to look for an alternative piece of land where the school was to be relocated.

Mr Obonyo said the school’s current site is private land donated by a resident before it was converted to a private institution.

According to Job Kipyegon, a resident, the 20 acres were donated to the Government by a resident for construction of a public secondary school.

The school was later taken over by the African Inland Church, which approached the community as a potential sponsor in 2001.

“We understand the school borrowed more than Sh4 million from a bank, which has now threatened to auction the school bus in order to recover its money inclusive of interest,” he said.

No funds

However, Principal Kipkorir Labat insisted the school’s operations were suspended due to lack of finances caused by parents withdrawing their children from the school.

Mr Labat could not explain the reason behind the learners’ exodus but dismissed mismanagement allegations saying the school is being run by AIC Koibatek.

“The school has no money. A request has already been forwarded to the church headquarters to allocate extra funds but that does not mean the school will re-open tomorrow,” he said.

Rev Kiplon Chelagat of AIC admitted the school is facing a financial crisis but remained optimistic that the situation will be resolved.