Schools Must Have Fire Extinguishers and Matrons Near Dorm Before Gaining Boarding Status, MP Orero.
Kibra Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Orero has declared that no school should be allowed as a boarding institution if it does not achieve a required operating quality.
Speaking on Monday, Orero noted that installing fire extinguishers and having patron housing close to dormitories should be among the essential requirements for any institution seeking ‘boarding school’ accreditation.
Orero said that achieving this condition will help to prevent deadly fire occurrences that have claimed the lives of students, including the most recent incidence at Endarasha Hillside Academy in Nyeri County, which claimed 21 lives.
“These basic requirements should be the items that a boarding school must have before it is approved. A fire extinguisher is mandatory; they are not that expensive,” said Orero.
Orero emphasized the need for every dormitory to have a housemaster or housemistress living alongside the students. He noted that in some schools, even the teachers do not reside near the premises, and the boarding mistress does not have a home on site.
The MP questioned why private investors are permitted to establish educational schools without prior teaching expertise.
Orero stated that learning institutions should be administered and run by people who have received training on how to run a learning institution, ideally teachers.
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In his remarks, Orero pointed out that some directors of private schools are not teachers and have not studied subjects like psychology, sociology, philosophy, or management. He questioned, “How can you manage a school when you’ve never been a teacher?”
During the same interview, Dagoretti North Member of Parliament (MP) Beatrice Elachi stated that boarding should be eliminated from all elementary schools.
She argued that young students should be enrolled in day schools until they reach adulthood, and that moving them to boarding schools posed a significant risk to their safety.
Schools Must Have Fire Extinguishers and Matrons Near Dorm Before Gaining Boarding Status, MP Orero.
