Schools cannot continue to kill our children

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a disorienting experience for everybody but has likely hit our children the hardest, especially those who were waiting to be sacrificed at the altar of the all-consuming Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations. The pandemic has steadily been unpicking the seams of their tightly woven plans to pass.

In many ways, these national exams are the most rudimentary of measures of learners’ intellectual capabilities. But they’re hallowed in the hierarchy of academic achievements and remain profitable for many cartels.

They should be regarded as one of the safety concerns for learners. A majority of them will suffer their way through them. Some might lose their self-esteem, minds and lives in the process.

There have been mixed reactions from the public about schools reopening, with some sections calling for candidates to be allowed back first and others calling for the postponement of the exams.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) boss Wilson Sossion said nobody in this country should gamble with the lives of learners and teachers, adding that KCPE and KCSE are not a ticket to heaven. Amen to that.

SANITATION

It’s been said over and over again that the war against Covid-19 will be won with proper sanitation. But reports have shown that this is a pipe dream for most schools, which not only lack running water but also don’t have enough toilets for learners.

A World Health Organisation (WHO) report from 2017 revealed that schools pose a great sanitation risk and flagged Kenya as one of the countries lagging behind in this area. 

More than that, the yawning gaps in safety of learners in schools are most likely far more threatening than Covid-19 could ever be.

Termed second homes for our children, experience has proved that they are anything but that because of the danger lurking in the shadows.

A 2019 report by the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers on school safety revealed most schools in Kenya can’t guarantee the safety of learners. This brings to mind the kindergarten pupil in Mombasa who was killed after falling through a bus floor in 2017.

SCHOOL DISASTERS

The report also says most schools did not break down safety regulations to enable children to understand and avoid risk. But it’s more than just a knowledge gap question.

The tragic events at Precious Talent school on that bleak Monday, September 23, 2019, illustrate how some schools have become the place where children go to die better than any statistics could.

A recap, for those who may have forgotten, is that their one-storey classroom collapsed, seven lives were lost, and over 60 learners escaped with injuries. A year later, we have simply moved on as we shout about Covid-19 while awaiting the next tragedy because, let’s face it, nothing much has changed since then.

There have been numerous media reports of learners using dilapidated structures not even suitable for goats as classrooms, especially in rural areas.

PERMANENT SOLUTIONS

Moreover, school fires have become the norm whenever national exams threaten the sanity of learners. From the Bombolulu Girls School incident in 1998, where 26 girls died, to the Kyanguli Secondary School fire in 2001 that saw 58 students burnt to death, it’s frightening to think that we’ve not seen the worst of it yet.

The Ministry of Education has time and again issued directives on how to tame these school fires, and recommended a raft of other measures to keep children safe in schools in general, but these words remain on the lips of officials and in dusty documents.

A spot check of public schools on any given day will reveal the glaring dangers children are still exposed to. May the ghosts of the learners who lost their lives in schools haunt us until we find permanent solutions to ensure that schools never claim another soul.

Ms Oneya comments on social and gender topics. [email protected]; Twitter: @FaithOne