Revist issue of boarding schools
Parents wait for information at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County on September 6, 2024 following a fire incident that claimed the lives of 21 pupils.
What you need to know:
- The case of Hillside Academy should be addressed in the context of parental guidance.
- Is it not time to debate on the age and right time for children joining boarding schools?
Is it not the right time now for the country, through the education sector, to interrogate deeply on the necessity of primary boarding schools?
The horror that visited Hillside Endarasha Academy in Kieni, Nyeri County on Thursday night in a dormitory fire that has so far claimed 21 lives should revive a debate that has for years being going on quietly on whether we really need to take our children, who are at the age of being in primary schools, to boarding schools.
Though we have had other fire incidences in the past like in July 1991 where 19 lives were lost in St Kizito Girls School in Meru County, Nyeri High School fire in 1991, Bombolulu Girls Secondary in 1998 where 26 girls died in a stampede as they tried to escape a fire, and the worst being Kyanguli Secondary School in 2001 where 67 boys died.
The case of Hillside Academy where children, who are still very young to leave home in search of education, should be addressed in the context of parental guidance as they ascend the fragile steps of growth.
Pursuing academic excellence
Are parents abdicating their responsibilities of taking care of their young ones when the children need it most at that very important stage of growth development in the name of pursuing academic excellence that most Kenyans believe can only happen in the academies and not in public schools? Is it not time to debate on the age and right time for children joining boarding schools?
For years now, Kenyan parents have even gone to the extent of taking their very young children in primary schools outside the country to join academies. Uganda used to be a very popular destination.
The issue of day schools especially at primary level has been very contentious simply because most parents believe public schools in their locality do not meet the required standards for their children to excel. This, however, is not the gospel truth. We have had day primary schools that do well. Some primary day schools in urban areas always lead in national examinations.
Mr Kigo is a retired environment officer. [email protected]
