Kakamega School students to pay Sh21m for burnt dormitory

Learning will resume at Kakamega School on November 15-25, with each student ordered to pay Sh9,823 for damage to a dormitory gutted by fire on November 6.

The school board said in a November 10 letter to parents that the blaze destroyed goods worth Sh21 million, which will be paid for by parents.

"The grand total of the damages is Sh21,611,360. Divided by the total number of students, which is 2,200, each student will therefore pay Sh9,823. This amount must be paid by all students on the day they report," the letter said.

The board directs Form Four students to report back to the school on November 15.

Form One students will return on November 21, Form Two on November 23 and Form Three on November 25.

"Each student, accompanied by the parent or guardian, should be in school by 8am on the given dates without fail," the letter says.

The letter quotes from an assessment of the damage to the dorm conducted by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, saying it “stands at Sh12,185,540.00”.

“The cost of the CCTV installation in the building is estimated at Sh695,420.00. The cost of 280 double-decker beds is Sh4,194,400," the letter says.

The board said the school will donate a mattress, two blankets and two bedsheets to each student whose items were burnt in the fire.

The reopening of Kakamega School comes as the Ministry of Education this week directed school administrators to discuss with learners changes  that can be made to reduce the pressure that could lead them to burn school property.

Assignments that leave little leisure time

Education PS Julius Jwan made the appeal even as he warned that students who burn down school property will be handled as criminals.

Students found guilty of the offence risk being blacklisted by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the PS said.

But Dr Jwan faulted some schools for issuing heavy academic assignments that leave little leisure time for students.

"Children should not be subjected to learning throughout their season in school. From time to time, they should be engaged in sporting activities to discourage boredom," he said.

Speaking during a tour of schools in Homa Bay County, the PS said the government will not shoulder the cost of rebuilding classrooms, dormitories, laboratories or any other building set ablaze by learners.

Instead, he said, parents will be asked to bear the cost of damage caused by their children.

The ministry has proposed the introduction of leisure activities for learners to reduce cases of fire in schools.

The PS and the chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Education, Dr Sarah Ruto, said students who engage in arson attacks will be arrested and arraigned as criminals.

They spoke as more students were arrested and detained by police in connection with school fires that have rocked the country recently.

Schools closed because of fires

Speaking at Mauta Primary School on Mfangano Island in Mbita sub-county when a team of education officials inspected the state of infrastructure in schools, Dr Jwan told security officers to work closely with school administrators when investigating fires. Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo accompanied the team.

Dr Jwan said school management should be accountable for all losses in school, especially where teachers and support staff live on campus.

"There is no way a dormitory in a school will burn down without anyone witnessing. There are schools where teachers and other support staff live in schools. It is impossible to say there are no witnesses to an arson attack in such schools," Dr Jwan said.

A wave of arson attacks has hit schools across the country in recent months.

In Nyanza, academic giant Maranda High School joined the list of schools closed because of fires.

Students from several schools have been arrested and detained in connection with fires.