- In some schools, laboratories were the only buildings with an exit or escape points
- Report by Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers involved 213 school in 21 counties
Image: FILE
Schools are perceived to be the second home for children, a place where everything has been done to keep them safe.
However, if the preliminary findings of a report commissioned by a teacher's union are anything to go by, most schools cannot guarantee the safety of the learners.
The report found that most schools did not break down safety regulations to enable children understand and avoid risk.
"Only 39 per cent of the schools had broken the school safety manual into simpler language for easy understanding by learners and other members of the school community," the report says.
The report by Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers involved 213 school spread across 21 counties.
It comes against a backdrop of closure of schools around deemed to be unsafe by the Education Ministry following the collapse of Precious Talent Academy in Nairobi where eight children died and more than 60 were injured.
The closure of the schools caused great inconvenience to thousands of learners, teachers and parents served by the institutions.
The report however fails to touch on the security apparatus or personnel employed to ensure safety in schools.
Its main focus is on how well informed those in a school environment are about their security and options one has in getting out of an unsafe situation.
In some schools, laboratories were the only areas with an exit or escape points.
Whereas 55 per cent of schools surveyed were reported to have a visible label on fire and emergency assembly points, lack of exit and escape zones was highlighted as a major gap in assuring safety.
This could put learners in danger as they could be trapped inside buildings in events such as fire and fail to find their way out.
Fires remain a big threat to schools and have snatched away lives where they have occurred.
In 2017, Moi Girls School Nairobi lost 10 girls trapped in a dormitory that caught fire in the middle of the night.
The case was considered an act of arson and is still under investigation.
Half of the schools surveyed, 52 per cent, inducted their students and teachers on school safety.
However, 66 per cent did not display the safety regulations and instructions somewhere visible in their premises as required by law.
Generally, most of the schools have well ventilated classrooms and classes had conformed to the set standards, the report found