Learners underwent security screening and trauma counselling before being allowed into the school. /SCREENSHOT
Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil reopened on Thursday, with Form Four students becoming the first group to return to school in a phased resumption of learning more than a month after a dormitory fire claimed the lives of 16 girls.
Grade 10 students are scheduled to report on Monday next week, followed by Form Three students on Thursday.
Parents and guardians began arriving at the school early in the morning accompanied by their daughters, where they underwent stringent security checks before being allowed into the compound.
Female police officers searched bags and frisked students at the main gate to prevent prohibited items from being brought into the school.
After the security screening, learners and their parents were directed to a registration desk before proceeding to a tent where they received post-trauma counselling ahead of readmission.
The Ministry of Education closed the school indefinitely on May 28 following the night fire that razed the Meline Waithera dormitory.
One parent said school management and officials from the Ministry of Education held a meeting with parents on Monday to outline the conditions that had to be met before learners could return.
"I'm happy to say that so far they have met those conditions and they have also been able to really prepare to welcome us although within a very short time," he said.
The school has put up a temporary dormitory to accommodate the learners as the ill-fated block remains under investigation and awaits renovation.
"They have shown us where our daughters will be sleeping. They have also shown us how they will be dealt with as part of the post-traumatic counselling sessions," the parent said.
He added that parents had also used the period the school remained closed to help their daughters recover from the tragedy, including paying for psychological counselling.
"The other thing that we expect the school to help us is for the counsellors to stay around so that in the next three months, they should also be interacting with our girls just to make sure that they settle down because our fear is how will they handle it once we leave school today," he said.
With the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations only about four months away, the parent expressed hope that the students would recover quickly and refocus on their studies.
"They were traumatised, they were shocked with what happened because some of them didn't see it coming. Like my daughter, she lost some of her friends," he told TV47 at the school compound.
The phased reopening came a day after the Kibera Law Courts remanded eight minors charged with the murder of the 16 girls until September 22, when the court is expected to rule on their bail application.
The girls denied charges of murdering their colleagues by allegedly deliberately starting the fire in the dormitory shortly after midnight on the night of May 27 and 28.
Justice Diana Kavedza imposed strict interim conditions, directing probation officers to interview the parents of both the victims and survivors.
She also ordered the parents of the accused minors to facilitate six months of counselling for their children, directed that their mobile phones be confiscated and barred them from accessing television while in custody.
She said the court would determine the bail application after reviewing probation reports.
"I would request the parents of the minors and the defence team to implore the children to be patient; justice moves very slowly in murder cases. It will move very slowly because the victims are many," she said.
"You are therefore looking at two months before I can get that report."
The defence mounted a spirited bid for the minors' release on bail, arguing that the court could impose conditions to safeguard witnesses.
"My lady, you may issue conditions while granting them bond as far as witnesses are concerned," the defence team submitted.
The prosecution opposed the application, citing the magnitude of the tragedy, the trauma suffered by the victims' families and the fact that the accused minors are known to key witnesses.
The eight minors remain at the Kabete Juvenile Remand Home as pretrial proceedings continue pending the court's ruling on their bail application.
