After the ministry of education, came up with a directive that 100% of 2018 KCPE candidates must be enrolled to secondary schools, along came challenges to some of the secondary schools with limited infrastructure.
One of the schools affected is Lake Bogoria Girls Secondary school in Baringo South Sub County. the sub county has only two girls’ schools.
The institution is currently constarined as the number of students enrolled this year shot up by more than double the usual number, forcing them to convert their main dining hall to a dormitory for the over 200 form ones.
This has also forced the students to take their meals while standing along the verandas of their former dining hall which still houses the kitchen.
School principal Jean Ngaiwa, revealed that they previously used to admit a total of 80 candidates but this year the number has gone up as a result of the government’s directive of 100 percent enrollment.
She also added that the school acts as a rescue center for some of the girls who flee from Female Genital Mutilation, early marriages and Insecurity which are still some of the retrogressive cultural behaviours practiced in the area.
A random check in some of the classes displayed the dire condition the students go through also when learning in class as most of them share chairs and also desks since the school had not prepared for the high number.
Ngaiwa, noted that due to the challenge they will convert the school bus parking shade into a class so that it can accomodate the extra number of students.
She appealed to both the national and county governments and also other stakeholders to come to their rescue and provide the girls with a conducive environment for learning.
Salina Kiptoo, Matron of the school lamented that she faces alot of challenges trying to manage the growing number of students and also she revealed that the dormitory which was once a dining hall is far from the rest, so she finds it hard to move round the dorms especially at night.
Salina Chepsat, school board member says that she normally goes to the villages to rescue some of the girls who are facing the threat of cultural norms in the community and the school has turned out to be an haven for the innocent girls as they admit some of them with or without fees.
She also appealed to the Deputy President William Ruto who promised the school last year a total of Ksh 5 million to fullfil the promise so that they can construct more infrastructures.