At least 122 students were left in the cold after a dormitory was razed at Koimbi Boys high school in Muranga on Sunday night. Principal John Muthee said they suspect the fire, which completely destroyed the premise, was sparked by an electric fault. He urged the county government, leaders and well wishers to help the school in efforts to accommodate the affected students.
“We lost a lot of property in the incident. We are calling on well-wishers to come to the aide of the students,” Muthee said.
On Friday, a sick student died in a dormitory which went up in flames at Bar Kowino secondary school in Bondo. The student, who is said to have fallen ill, was sleeping in the dormitory together with his two other colleagues. Educations experts say political interference, peer pressure, and indiscipline sparked last year’s rampant school fires.
The task force assigned to study the incidents said pressure on students to score good grades is also among the causes. Dr Gracie Mulei, a member, also cited lack of intelligence gathering mechanisms and mismanagement of school resources.
She also pointed out that too many exams also pushed students in most of the affected schools to burn down learning facilities. Last year, more than 100 schools were affected by dormitory infernos which stakeholders said were fanned by drastic education forms.