Failure to enforce quality standards blamed for rise in school tragedies

News of the Kakamega Primary School tragedy where 14 pupils died and scores others were injured in a stampede on Monday evening brought sorrow – for the loss of so many young innocent lives – and anger because it was not the first time children had needlessly died in schools under circumstances that could have been avoided.
It was therefore a moment of great panic for many when a fire was reported at Upper Hill School in Nairobi on Wednesday evening. Fortunately, it was contained before it could cause much damage.
A team of engineers visited Kakamega Primary School on Thursday and inspected the building in which the stampede occurred. Led by Ms Jane Mutulili, the first vice president of the Institution of Kenya Engineers (IEK), they said the de-sign of the staircases in the three-storey building could have contributed to the deaths.
According to them, the building, which is 72 metres high, has two exit points on both ends. The stairs are only 1.2 metres wide, making it difficult for more than 500 pupils to escape from the second-floor classrooms safely during an emergency.
The lack of lighting along the stairways, they said, also appeared to have contributed to the tragic incident.
Ms Mutilili and team have recommended that an additional exit from the building should be constructed in the middle of the towering building.
“We are hoping that funds will be made available to construct a third staircase that will serve as an exit from the build-ing due to the large number of pupils accommodated in the classrooms,” said Ms Mutilili.
As expected, top government officials led by Deputy President William Ruto and Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha flew to Kakamega County to condole with the bereaved. At the requiem service for the deceased on Friday, more politicians, teachers’ union officials and national government officers trooped to Bukhungu Stadium to mourn the nine girls and five boys.
Prof Magoha may have put his foot in the mouth when he called for thorough investigations into the tragedy but pre-empted findings by categorically ruling out congestion and infrastructural challenges. Former senator Boni Khalwale also had a poor showing when he recklessly blamed unseen evil forces and some churches for the tragedy. But Sena-tor Cleophas Malala dismissed these allegations and called for speedy investigations.
“If we bury these children before the report is out, it will never be written,” the senator had demanded earlier. But the report was not released by Friday even as a post-mortem report showed that six of the pupils died of suffocation, with one boy also suffering a broken shoulder.
The Kakamega tragedy puts the Ministry of Education under close scrutiny. The directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards, together with the Education Standards and Quality Assurance Council, are charged with ensuring that, among other things, schools are safe for all learners. Its officers are expected to regularly inspect both private and public schools and take action for non-compliance with regulations.
It has now become routine for the ministry to promise investigations whenever such tragedies strike, but those prom-ises are never fulfilled.
In the aftermath of the deaths, Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary general Wilson Sossion was scath-ing in his criticism of the directorate, accusing it of corruption.
“Someone is responsible for the death of these children through negligence,” he said at the requiem service to thun-derous applause from the mourners.
Quality Assurance Council
He blamed the Education ministry for failure to establish the Education Standards and Quality Assurance Council as demanded by Section 64, 65 and 66 of the Basic Education Act, 2013.
Prof Magoha has in the past ruled out constituting the council and instead proposed an amendment to scrap it, citing duplication of roles with the directorate.
“It is not ideal for the ministry to appoint members to a council that may soon be expunged from the Act, and whose roles are already being undertaken by the directorate,” Prof Magoha said in December 2019 when he appeared be-fore the National Assembly’s Education and Research Committee. He claimed that other ministers before him did not appoint the council and that he would “not commit suicide” by doing so.
Quality assurance has been given casual attention by the ministry, and this is reflected in its under-staffing over the years. It is only in the last three years that its officers have been increased to 450 against an established need of 1,056 officers.
These officers are expected to inspect the more than 41,700 (25,000 public and 16,700 private) Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) centres, 38,200 primary schools (24,500 public and 13,700 private) and 11,500 secondary schools (9,700 public and 1,800 private).
While the Safety Standards Manual for Schools in Kenya that was developed in 2008 comprehensively gives guidelines on safety, security and health in schools, it is largely ignored.
The first school safety standard requires schools to be established on properly demarcated and fenced grounds with a secure gate. This is intended to isolate schools from other establishments and keep away unwanted persons.
The second standard requires schools to ensure that classrooms, dormitories, offices, kitchens, toilets, and other physical structures are clean, well maintained, safe and properly utilised. This safety standard is further explained ac-cording to the specific facilities.
A standard classroom, for example, should be well ventilated and either be 7.5m by 5.85m or 7.5m x 6m and accommodate a maximum of 30 learners in one-seater desks or 40 learners in two-seater desks. With the push to have all school-going-age children in school unmatched with funding, many public schools are congested, making nonsense of these standards.
For easy exit, in case of an emergency, the guidelines require that doorways should open outwards and not be locked from outside when learners are inside. The classroom windows must be without grills and should also be easy to open. Crucially, each block should be fitted with serviced fire extinguishers.
For storeyed buildings, the stairways should be wide enough and located at both ends of the building and should be clear of any obstructions at all times. The construction of stairways should give provision for learners with special needs/disabilities.
The corridors should be both well ventilated and lit, and wide enough for learners to walk along without bumping into each other.
The furniture in classrooms, especially the desks, should be appropriate for use by both male and female learners. The law recommends that each desk should have no more than three learners and the space between any two desks should be at least two feet.
For dormitories in boarding schools, the space between the beds should be at least 1.2 metres while the corridor or pathway space should not be less than two metres wide. The doorways should be at least five feet wide and open outwards. Dormitories should not be locked from outside when learners are inside.
Each dormitory should also have a door at each end and an additional emergency exit at the middle clearly labelled “Emergency Exit”. Dormitory windows must be without grilles and should be easy to open outwards.
Admissions should be tied to bed capacity.
In cases where pit latrines are used, they should not be less than six metres (20ft) deep, and be built at least 10 metres away from tuition and boarding facilities. In mixed schools, girls’ sanitation areas must be separate and offer complete privacy. Schools should ensure safe and effective disposal of sanitary wear.
In all schools, appropriate provisions should be given to learners with special needs and very young learners in pre-unit and lower primary. For example, passageways should be accessible and toilet facilities should be suitable for these groups.
Proper consideration should be given for staff sanitation, with at least one closet for 12 persons and with separate provision for ladies and gentlemen. All sanitary facilities and equipment should be in the best state of repair, serviceable and inspected regularly.
A report on the schools that were closed last year (in reaction to the Precious Talent Top School deaths) and seen by the Nation shows that most of them failed these health and safety requirements. However, after the notice to close them, there has been little follow-up to ensure compliance. Many others, especially private schools and those in the Alternative Provision of Basic Education and Training category, were not registered and had untrained teachers.

Additional reporting by Benson Amadala.