Prevention Is Always Better Than Cure

On the chilly morning of 24th March, 2001, students at the then Kyanguli Mixed Secondary School, now Kyanguli Memorial Secondary School,were woken up by the screams of help from their fellow students. Confusion rent in the air. The dormitory, housing close to 200 students was on fire, panic ensues, those able to save themselves are able to rush out, but that was not to be the case for many others who were trapped in after the roof collapsed in. Their bodies are found hounded on one corner many charred beyond recognition. The death toll stands at 67 students, with many others sustaining injuries and hundreds more scarred for life. The event lays bare the inadequacies in boarding facilities in our institutions.

First forward to 7th September 2017, the nation awakes to somber news, 10 girls have perished after a midnight inferno razes down a dormitory at the Moi Girls School in Nairobi. Another senseless loss of life. Yet these two incidences are not the only ones of lives lost in dormitory fires, tens other case studies can be cited. And in the wake of each incident, there is always promise of improvement in facilities, a promise that quickly gets forgotten, oh how a forgetful lot Kenyans are, until the next tragedy strikes of course.

In line with a global campaign to give all children access to 12 years of learning, and as part of the governments commitment to the constitutional imperative of the right to education, the government of Kenya has a policy on 100% transition from primary to secondary schools. At face value, this is a timely and thoughtful policy as it ensures every child gets educated, but on the flip side, it has brought about strain on available resources.Schools are admitting more students than they can handle. Student teacher ratios are well above recommended, with some institutions having as many students as 65 in one class. Boarding facilities receive an even greater strain with schools having to convert dining halls into dormitories.

The influx of extra students coupled with the lack of proper fire standards in schools is undeniably a recepie for disaster. I do know its only a handful of people who would attest to having fire extinguishers in their boarding schools. It is therefore paramount that we take safety of our students as paramount, and not wait for disasters to occur before reacting.