As schools reopened across the country following a prolonged holiday season occasioned by the destructive floods, a day secondary school in Gatundu North, Kiambu County found itself in a quagmire after 23 toilets caved in.
The lavatories at Mutuma Secondary School, the top-performing mixed-day school in the const*tuency, collapsed due to the heavy rains that have been pounding the region.
According to the school principal, James Mwangi, the inst*tution’s management was forced to take drastic measures to han*le the situation, including forfeiting some of the teachers’ ab**tion blocks for use by the students.
With a population of 625 students, among them 325 girls and 300 boys, Mwangi noted that the situation requires prompt attention and intervention by the relevant authorities, including the area local leadership and the Ministry of Education, to avoid an o******k of diseases such as Cholera.
The principal divulged that the school administration has already written to the Ministry of Education over the matter, revealing that the reconstruction of the damaged facilities requires Sh 2.1 mi*lion, which the management cannot raise in their current financial state.
“We have notifi*d the relevant government agencies, including MP Elijah Njoroge Kururia and the Ministry of Education, requesting their a*sistance to rebuild the toilets. While teachers have forfeited some of their latrines, they are not enough to han*le the population of 625 students, and they are now required to queue to get the services they need,” the principal said.
With inadequate toilets, Mwangi stated that the school management has availed enough water to continuously clean the toilets, saying that they have been forced to employ workers to ensure hygiene and maintenance of the school’s sanitation.
“We now have two workers who have been mandated to maintain cleanliness in the available toilets all day. We have also availed enough clean water to help them undertake their mandate effectively,” added Mwangi.
Mwangi also appealed to well-wishers and corporates to chip in their support and a*sist the school in putting up more lavatories as well as other amenities.
Meanwhile, the school Deputy Principal, Jane Miringa, noted that they wi*l be working round the clock to ensure that they maintain and improve the school’s performance.
She noted that they wi*l devise means of recovering the lost two weeks, including extending school hours and teaching on Sat**days, to keep the learners abreast with the syllabus.
“We have decided, together with teachers, to adopt a multifaceted approach to ensure that we prepare our students and manage to recover the lost time. We have a plan to ensure that we maintain our performance and even beat other academic giants in Kiambu County,” she said.
The school, located in a remote vi*lage within the expansive const*tuency, took 20 students to university out of the 130 candidates who sat for last year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
