Murang’a: Leaders in Murang’a County have urged the Ministry of Education to consider undertaking regular inspections in schools, to ensure they comply with safety guidelines. Led by the County Woman Representative, Betty Maina, they empathized with the Utumishi Girls Academy fraternity, observing that schools should be a safe haven for every Kenyan child.
According to Kenya News Agency, the leaders made their remarks at Kimorori grounds during a bursary issuance event where over 676 learners in public secondary schools, tertiary colleges, and universities received Sh8.34 million in bursaries and scholarships. ‘The Ministry of Education should move beyond policy documents and consider conducting regular inspections at the schools even at the grassroots level to ensure all comply with safety guidelines. We have the infrastructure funds and the CDF, which should be sufficient to decongest those learning institutions,’ Ms. Maina said.
She urged school heads to only admit the right number of learners that can be accommodated in their schools. Maina lamented that some schools in the country have dormitories with a capacity of two hundred students, but the same are overstretched with up to 350 students and in the event of an emergency, the learners would not be able to escape.
She also called on the teachers and heads of institutions to ensure they create a good learning environment for the students. ‘Let the students have enough rest; you cannot keep a learner up to 11pm and you still expect them to be in class by 4am; this slowly exhausts the learners mentally and physically and with time breeds resentment towards education,’ she maintained.
‘We would not want to ever witness what happened at Utumishi Girls, so if the learners are intent on going home, allow them to leave until calm returns because you may talk them out of it, but at the end, they force their way out, and this route often has disastrous endings,’ she observed. Maina called on parents to ensure they talk to their children, advise them and discipline them at an early age.
‘The alleged arsonists were fellow students, and if this is not the height of moral decay, then I do not know what it is, yet we witnessed some parents causing a scene at the police station when their daughters were arrested, forgetting that due to their actions, lives and dreams had been lost,’ she observed.
Kimorori Assistant County Commissioner Patrick Kibera, on his part, implored parents to responsibly raise their children and protect them, but not leave the entire burden on the teachers. ‘The country has witnessed incidents of children disappearances and as parents you need to always be informed of the whereabouts of your child; let us protect the young ones,’ he added.
Kibera further called on teachers to maintain close guidance and counselling programs for learners to help curb indiscipline in schools. Meanwhile, parents and beneficiaries who attended the event expressed gratitude, with Mercy Nduta from Kangari, Kigumo Constituency, noting that the bursary was a relief at a time when parents are grappling with the high cost of living.
‘Times are very hard economically and as parents, such bursaries are a relief, as we will be able to keep our children in school,’ she said. Her sentiments were echoed by Mwangi Njuguna, whose daughter is in her second year at Embu University. ‘This bursary will push me a bit and help my daughter continue with her studies, even as I encourage her to also apply for the HELB fund,’ he said.
