Safety of students in schools badly deteriorating
There is a crisis developing in slow motion in schools. Safety in learning institutions is rapidly deteriorating – and nobody seems alarmed.
In the past month alone, six cases have been reported on major accidents involving schools in which students and teachers have died.
Just last week, a Kapsabet Boys bus rolled after the driver lost control along the Kabarnet-Marigat Road. One teacher and one student died, while 23 students were injured. It could have been much worse as the bus was carrying 61 students.
Three pupils from Maadili Junior School died after their bus overturned along the Gitugi-Muranga road. Five others were critically injured. The bus was carrying 38 pupils.
In Meru County, 38 students and 10 teachers from Itoleka Girls escaped death by a whisker when the driver of their school bus opted to slam it into an embankment by the side of the road as it rolled down a steep slope towards the notorious Nithi bridge.
The bus experienced brake failure.
And in Machakos county, a school bus from Goodrich International School crushed a four year old boy to death after dropping him from school. Liam Kipruto died a short distance from his home.
Further, a nine-year-old student from Lily Academy in Githurai, Nairobi, Angelina Njoki, drowned in the school’s swimming pool during swimming lessons.
In another accident, Ilyaas Abdikadir Ali Mohammed, a Grade Two pupil at Visa Oshwal Primary School, was found dead at the school’s swimming pool after going missing for a day.
One’s heart cannot help but go out to the completely devastated parents of the pupils who have been killed and injured in these accidents.
Parents have every expectation that they will receive their children back home from school as healthy as they handed them over. For a parent to get a call from school that their children are either dead or are in hospital because of an accident in school is absolutely traumatizing for parents.
What these incidents demonstrate is that something has given, and the contagion is spreading.
What is alarming is that despite all these incidents, Ministry of Education officials don’t seem perturbed. Teacher unions should raise the alarm.
The Ministry of Education is the regulator of the education sector. It needs to wake up.
First, carry out a thorough investigation into these accidents to determine what happened. Secondly, a thorough assessment should be undertaken of all school buses in the country’s primary and secondary schools to ascertain roadworthiness.
One big problem is these buses are not used for long distances, and schools will probably ignore any serious unscheduled servicing before a long journey.
Thirdly, does the Ministry of Education have safety protocols for schools which have swimming pools, or they are at liberty to manage themselves as they deem fit? Swimming pools in schools must be secured and locked up always, and only be opened by the instructor during swimming lessons.
As of now, swimming pools in schools are run on a completely laissez faire basis. Schools want to earn the maximum they can from these pools, while investing very little. A certified instructor/lifeguard and security fencing must be compulsory.
The Ministry, in conjunction with the management of schools, needs to develop emergency protocols for schools. It is clear from the response by school administrations during accidents that they have no clue what to do.
Finally, in all the accidents that have happened in schools resulting in deaths and injuries, there has been no accountability. The Ministry of Education must ensure that school administrations are held to account in such cases. This is the only way school administrations will put safety of their students at the same level as their obsession with grades.
No student should die or be injured while in school. The Ministry must adopt a zero tolerance approach to accidents arising from negligence or human error in schools.
