Schools should hire nutrition, food experts

The recent reports of Sacred Heart Girls High School-Mukumu, in Kakamega County, where the death toll has now risen to three students due to food poisoning, are disheartening and call for immediate actions to avert a recurrence.

A similarly sad case was reported at the nearby Butere High School, where several students were hospitalised due to water poisoning.

The incidents led to the indefinite closure of the institutions of learning.

This has caused alarm and panic among parents with school-going children, who have questioned the safety of their loved ones in school.

The visit to the two schools by Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha aside, more needs to be done to ensure students' safety as negligence witnessed during the handling of the patients did not bear any fruits.

Food quality assessment

However, the government can move with speed to tame this menace by employing food experts in schools with the responsibility of assessing the quality of food consumed by pupils and students. The specialists will be able to test and ascertain if the food has contagious pathogens that could be hazardous to students.

The experts will also be mandated to assess and identify that whatever it is consumed meets the required standards and does not harm the student’s well-being.

In the wake of such tragic cases, the school administration had so far not provided clear information on the severity of the matter until one student died while receiving treatment. The school administration had opted to stay put and avoid updating the stakeholders on the matter.

For sustainability, there should be a legal requirement compelling schools to provide accurate information on the well-being of students at school so as to avoid speculation and worry among parents and guardians.

Mr Kiptoo is a communications practitioner. [email protected].