Following the tragic incident at Hillside Endarasha Academy, Dagoretti Member of Parliament Beatrice Elachi has called for a ban on boarding facilities in primary schools across Kenya.
The lawmaker insists that young children should not be separated from their families at such a crucial developmental stage, arguing that day schooling would be safer and more beneficial for primary-aged students.
Elachi’s remarks were made during a morning show on a local TV station on Monday, September 9, 2024, where she emphasized the need for more stringent regulations to protect children.
“And then we go to the next question whether this is gonna teach us that going forward no primary school, no, should be boarding. NO PRIMARY SCHOOL SHOULD BE BOARDING.
“Let parents take care of their children in primary school as they move to high school,” she declared, emphasizing the importance of keeping children with their families.
The lawmaker further highlighted the vulnerability of young children in such tragic events, pointing out that the pupil’s underdeveloped respiratory systems could not cope with the smoke from the fire at Endarasha school.
“You see these young babies, I will call them babies, these children were asleep. It means they were choked (by smoke) that’s why they were unable to wake up and run because they were choked by smoke, their respiratory are very fragile,” she stressed.
Kibra MP
On the same program, Kibra MP Peter Orero voiced his agreement with Elachi’s stance on the issue of boarding facilities for young children.
He argued that the country needs a task force to investigate the s******f primary boarding schools, noting that young children can barely take care of themselves and that many facilities lack the essential requirements needed to manage them properly.
“I think this is just the tip of iceberg, having been one of those who manage boarding schools. But I want to say the primary boarding school we had a task force.
“I think I was also involved in that time to look at why we have boarding schools in primary. That time it was my suggestion that p****e who could be in boarding were at least from class 7 or 8 in primary because they could take care of themselves.
“But when you get a kid who is in class 2 or 3 in a boarding school you wonder why that kid should be in a boarding school because one they cannot manage themselves and those boarding schools do not have the basic requirements to manage these kids.
“They have the teachers, those teachers would not be there to manage a class 2, a class 3 and a class 4 kid. They do not even know what they do in schools, they go to school just to play,” he said.
Orero further argued that there is a need to empower quality assurance and standards officers if boarding in primary schools is to continue in light of the Hillside Endarasha Academy fire tragedy.
“These boarding schools that we have, I would not say with certainty that we do not need boarding schools, but we need to have measures. And these measures when we were growing up we used to have inspectors of schools.
“Now they are called quality assurance and standards officers. At sub-county level they don’t have vehicles, they do not have manpower.
“The government system that we have has not laid emphasis on quality assurance. In schools, if we do not have quality assurance and standards officers, then things will go astray,” he noted.
The incident at Hillside Endarasha Academy has prompted a renewed debate on the necessity and safety of boarding schools for young learners, with parents and education stakeholders discussing the potential benefits and risks associated with such arrangements.
DCI, government chemist
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the government chemist are set to begin the process of identifying the victims of the tragic fire at Hillside Academy, Endarasha.
Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor stated that the bodies, preserved at Naromuru Mortuary, are severely burned, making identification challenging.
DNA collection from families will commence on Monday, with autopsies scheduled for Tuesday, followed by the reconciliation of DNA samples.
The fire broke out on September 6, 2024, in a dormitory housing over 150 boys aged 10 to 14. The wooden structure of the dormitory allowed the fire to spread rapidly, affecting boys from Grades 4 to 8.