To stop school fires, we must find root cause

To start a fire requires fuel, heat, and oxygen. Likewise, in order to have a working education system there needs to be policy, recognition of group and social dynamics, and good leadership and management.

There have been many theories and reasons offered to explain the wave of dormitory fires that has swept through more than 120 secondary schools across the country.

To better explain this, perhaps we need to go down to the basics of what we know, what we do not know, and the point of convergence of the known and the unknown.

Stakeholders need to focus on finding what is not known in order to find the solution and stop any further destruction of property and potential loss of lives.

What is known is that school dormitories are being burnt down. The fires are started by someone in the school compound — some schools have indicated that it is the students, others allege that it is the teachers, while some claim that it is the school heads and management to protest against the Ministry of Education’s order that they account for funds under their care.

The reasons advanced for students’ culpability include unpreparedness to sit for national examinations, peer pressure, moral decadence in the society, mistreatment by school administrations and teachers, and drug and alcohol abuse.

Guardians have been accused of poor parenting and failing to discipline their children. We need to sift through this cocktail of circumstances to find the reason for the school fires and stop the menace.

COSTITUTION ALLOWS PICKETING

Children learn mostly from informal means, that is, what they see happening at home and in society. Our Constitution allows picketing and demonstrating, but our children are now interpreting it to mean burning schools in order to be heard.

We have had many such crises before, and each time there is such a situation, we react rather than respond. We do not make contingency plans and prepare for emergencies and, therefore, end up in the same crisis time and time again.

We always have a knee-jerk reaction to crises without investigating the root cause of the problem. We need comprehensive policies to cater for the needs of all citizens.

Some people think there is no cause for alarm as the current wave of school fires affected less than 1 per cent of the secondary schools community in Kenya. The fact of the matter is that there should be zero tolerance to delinquency and criminal activities in schools.

School children are this country’s future workforce, parents, and leaders. If we allow this destructive behaviour to continue, we are surely setting ourselves up for doom.

We are planting seeds of impunity that we are sure to reap in due course. We need to address the root cause of the problem.

By investigating and analysing these fires, we an address the root cause of the problem in order to prevent future destruction.

Mr Nabutola is the regional director, RICS - sub-Saharan Africa ([email protected]). Ms Wambugu is director, Safety Instructors and Planners Ltd ([email protected])