Increasingly, some education institutions are grappling with rising cases of indiscipline, including drug abuse, coordinated unrest, and disruptive behaviour often influenced by a few learners.
By
Alex Owiti
Founder and CEO
Alexander PR and Communication Network
The recent fire tragedy at Utumishi Secondary School in Gilgil, which claimed the lives of 16 learners and left several others seriously injured, has once again reopened a painful national conversation. It forces us to pose a difficult question: should Kenya continue maintaining boarding schools in their current form, or is it time to abolish or fundamentally re-evaluate their usefulness?
Utumishi fire: MPs mull abolishing boarding schools
Recurring dorm fires reveal years of safety failures
Same script: Ignored school safety manual
Why have we normalised boarding schools?
The death trap our schools have become
Child offenders law tested as eight students are linked to school fire
Dreaded second term returns to haunt schools
Secure students against fires and other tragedies
Address unrest in schools
School fires: Time for parents to take matters into their own hands
'In developed countries, such schools are very few or not there at all.'
A deadly pattern of recurring school dormitory fires in Kenya, including the latest tragedy at Utumishi Girls, highlights…
Ignored provisions in Kenya’s School Safety Standards Manual continue to expose learners to deadly risks, as weak enforcement and…
Why have we normalised the idea that children must leave home in order to succeed academically?
Fires at schools have been a cause of concern for education officials, with classrooms and dormitories often crowded and no…
As we mourn the death of at least 10 students at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, we reflect on some of the…
