NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 15- The board of management of Jamhuri High School in Nairobi has called a crisis meeting Monday to discuss a fire incident that broke out at the school and burnt down a dormitory.
The board is likely to make recommendations including the closure of the school as police and fire experts investigate the incident that broke out Sunday evening.
Officials suspect arson as the cause of the incident that affected a dormitory housing close to 300 students. No injury was recorded during the incident.
There was also a fire incident at Kerugoya Girls’High School on Sunday night.
It is the latest in a series of fire incidents that have affected more than 100 schools in the country.
“If it does not stop do not think it will force us to close any school…we will not close any school. If you are not studying it is up to you. Your exams are ready in March, you will take them by the grace of God,” Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha said on November 8.
“We shall not handle you with kid gloves. Anybody planning to burn the building just remembers that if you are caught you will not go to any school. Definitely not any public school in this country. We shall charge you and it shall remain in your record.”
Magoha disputed narratives that the increased cases of unrest in schools were a result of the COVID-19 pandemic saying, “that is not true” and that available statistics prove otherwise.
In 2016 at the height of the unrest in schools, 239 cases of arson were reported nationwide.
In 2017 the numbers dropped immensely to 62. In 2018 arson cases nationwide stood at 61 while in 2019 63 schools were temporarily closed as a result of arson.
In 2020, even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country, at least 7 schools were affected by arson cases.
“What is all this nonsense? Students were in the prep room and the fire started in the boarding house. It is stupid and primitive and it must stop,” said Magoha.
A national conversation has been kickstarted as a result of the unrest, with stakeholders now advocating for the return of corporal punishment in a bid to restore discipline in schools.
Parents have been accused of abdicating their responsibilities by not instilling the much-needed discipline.
“Discipline starts from the family and it is a fact that quite a number of families have failed us. It looks mundane and juvenile for somebody in high school to burn a building. What has the building done to you?” posed Magoha.
Parents and guardians will now foot the bill for damages incurred as a result of arson.
The current school term is meanwhile expected to end on December 23.
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