348 Non-Compliant Boarding Schools to Transition to Day Schools by January.
Following a directive by President William Ruto, the Ministry of Education conducted a national assessment of all boarding schools to evaluate safety and compliance with regulations.
This followed a tragic dormitory fire at Hill Side Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County in September, which claimed 21 lives and left others injured.
The assessment revealed that 348 boarding schools failed to meet required standards in areas such as dormitory safety, fire equipment maintenance, sanitation, and learner welfare.
These schools will transition to day schools by January 2025 to ensure a safer learning environment.
A report by Usawa Agenda has revealed significant gaps in disaster preparedness within Kenyan schools, with most dormitories failing to meet safety standards for spacing between students’ beds.
The findings, unveiled during the launch of the secondary school survey report, spotlight various safety issues in schools, from poor structural conditions to overcrowded dormitories, raising concerns over student safety.
Safety Standards Largely Unmet
Less than half of the surveyed boarding schools have adhered to the 2008 Safety Standards Manual for schools, with sub-county institutions particularly lagging behind.
Only 24.6 per cent of these schools meet dormitory bed-spacing guidelines, while mixed sub-county schools recorded the lowest compliance at 21.3 per cent.
Across all school categories, girls’ schools demonstrate lower adherence to safety standards compared to boys’ schools, except in private institutions.
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Among special schools, compliance remains poor, with just 39.7 per cent of mixed schools meeting the guidelines.
Additionally, only 55 per cent of schools have visible fire and emergency assembly point labels.
The lack of awareness among school administrators about prescribed safety standards underscores weak enforcement mechanisms, further jeopardizing student safety.
Resource Constraints in Safety Management
The report highlights that financial limitations significantly hinder schools’ ability to meet safety requirements.
About 67 per cent of schools reported inadequate budget allocations for safety and security, 28 per cent had no allocation at all, and only three per cent found the funds sufficient.
Moreover, 97 per cent of secondary schools noted that available resources are insufficient to accommodate the increased student population resulting from the 100 per cent transition policy.
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Usawa Agenda CEO Emmanuel Manyasa criticized the misallocation of resources, pointing out that some congested schools still invest in non-essential assets like buses while neglecting basic infrastructure such as dormitories.
He emphasized that this lack of prioritization compromises student safety, with overcrowded schools posing significant risks.
Poor Planning and Skewed Resource Distribution
Manyasa blamed the congestion and safety challenges on inadequate planning for the 100 per cent transition policy. He observed that some schools are overcrowded while others remain underutilized, creating an uneven distribution of resources.
This imbalance disproportionately affects sub-county schools, which educate most students but remain underfunded, understaffed, and poorly resourced compared to larger institutions.
National Parents Association Chairman Silas Obuhatsa expressed concern over students’ living conditions, describing some schools as uninhabitable. He called for better resourcing of the Quality Assurance and Standards Department to ensure school safety.
348 Non-Compliant Boarding Schools to Transition to Day Schools by January.
