Education Cabinet Secretary Migos Ogamba was taken to task by the Senate Committee on Education on Thursday to address the rush behind the directive to close boarding sections of 348 primary schools across the country.
The Ministry of Education ordered that the boarding sections of the 384 primary schools be closed because of alleged non-compliance with prescribed government safety regulations.
In a statement on Monday, Basic Education PS Belio Kipsang said a compliance assessment conducted in September and October established that some institutions grossly contravened the provisions of the Safety Standards Manual for Schools in Kenya (2008).
The PS said the schools also failed to adhere to the standards as prescribed in the Registration Guidelines for Basic Education Institutions (2021) and were consequently not approved to host boarding learners.
In a circular dated November 27, Kipsang directed regional, county, and subcounty directors of education to ensure the affected schools do not reopen their boarding sections come January 6, 2025, at the onset of Term 1.
"The purpose of this circular, therefore, is to direct you to close down the boarding sections of all schools within your jurisdiction that were not approved as per the attached list,” he said.
Senator Joe Nyutu, the chair of the committee, sorted to determine what boarding schools needed to do to stay open starting in January.
"Some education stakeholders have expressed concerns about the closure of certain boarding school sections, claiming that they were not given enough information about what needed to be done with other schools and that the Ministry never responded to them," Nutu said.
However, according to CS Ogamba's statement, the Ministry provided boarding schools with a safety audit manual, which served as the decision's guidance.
The CS clarified that the 348 schools that have boarding sections were duly notified of this and that a correspondence was sent to them requesting that they either increase the safety of their boarding sections or risk closure.
“There is a safety manual that each boarding school needs to adhere to, and this is the manual that was used to audit to ensure that they met the requirements," CS Ogamba said.
"Those that did not meet the requirements were informed of the closure individually based on the audit report, and what is critical for us is to know that our officers did not close the school boarding sections that met the requirement."
The CS further said when the January school calendar resumes, schools that have not complied with the audit requirements would not be allowed to run their boarding sections.
"I am aware that some of the schools had to deal with one or two issues, but they were able to make the necessary changes. Our county quality assurance officers will be sent by the ministry to review and approve them," he said.
In an effort to make sure the schools satisfy the standards, the CS gave the committee his assurance that the post-audit concerns brought up by the education stakeholders will be addressed after the inspection.
The audit report that was sent to the concerned schools pointed out discrepancies in the boarding area, where some of the beds had been packed with triple decker rather than double and grilled windows and doors not opening from the outside.
The Ministry of Education embarked on a nationwide safety compliance assessment in the months September and October 2024 after the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri fire left 21 pupils dead.
