Principals Expose Govt After Sudden Closure of 348 Boarding Schools
Crisis looms in the education sector over the directive by the Ministry of Education issued on November 27 this year directing some heads of schools to close over 300 boarding schools after recording safety concerns.
Principals, directors, and stakeholders of the affected schools have, as a result, faulted the decision maintaining that the government subjected them to unthought condemnation.
The directors added that they were not consulted before the directive was issued even as parents of the affected schools now demand the government to reverse the decision to give them time to move their children to other schools.
They have revealed that the directive caused unnecessary panic to children and parents who will not be able to immediately adjust to new environments come January.
”It was not fair to us because according to the letter, it was indicated that the assessment was done by the Ministry. I want to be very sincere that we have not received any officers from the Ministry,” Jackson Ombati, a director at Tracer Academy, told the media.
Stakeholders in Kericho County have faulted the Ministry of double speak, saying that neither were their schools appraised nor consulted before the directive was issued.
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The stakeholders further urged the government to clamp down on the directive as some of the conditions highlighted required little grace period which, according to them, could not be met before schools are opened.
The Ministry of Education, however, insisted that all the directors and stakeholders in the affected schools were sufficiently consulted before the decision was arrived at.
The Ministry maintained that it will prioritize the safety of learners over educational interest at the boarding schools in Kenya going forward.
However, little seems to have been done by the government in terms of ensuring safety is complied with especially within public schools, with the Auditor General revealing a damning report over the sorry state.
The Ministry of Education issued a directive towards the closure of 348 boarding schools over safety concerns following a tragedy at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County.
In the incident, a dormitory housing 156 pupils caught fire leading to the death of 21 pupils.
Principals Expose Govt After Sudden Closure of 348 Boarding Schools
