Why have we normalised boarding schools?

In Kenya, boarding schools are often treated as symbols of discipline, seriousness, prestige, and academic success. Many parents proudly send children away from home at very young ages believing that the farther a child is from home, the higher their chances of success. Kenyan parents and guardians remain heavily dependent on boarding schools at secondary level, with boarders forming most learners in many public secondary institutions. Some learners spend almost their entire adolescence inside institutions, returning home only during half terms and holidays.

Yet when one examines some of the world’s strongest education systems, a completely different reality appears. In Finland, widely regarded as one of the best education systems globally, an estimated 98 to 99 per cent of learners are day scholars who go home to their families every evening. Boarding schools exist, but they are rare exceptions rather than the foundation of education.

The same pattern is visible across many developed nations. In the United Kingdom, despite the global attention given to elite institutions like Eton, less than one per cent of students attend boarding schools. In the United States, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, most learners remain home-based throughout their education journey, with boarding facilities mainly reserved for remote communities or special circumstances.

Substitutes for parenting

Even in highly competitive systems such as South Korea and Japan, where academic pressure is intense and students spend long hours studying, children still largely return home daily instead of living in school dormitories. China has some rural boarding arrangements because of migration and geographical realities, but urban education remains predominantly day-school based.

Closer to home, countries like Seychelles have also maintained largely family-centered schooling systems while still achieving strong education and literacy outcomes. South Africa and Nigeria have boarding traditions similar to Kenya’s, partly shaped by colonial-era education systems, but even there, boarding does not dominate the culture as deeply as it does within Kenya’s secondary education structure.

The global pattern is therefore difficult to ignore. Many of the world’s highest-performing education systems are built around keeping children connected to home, family, and community rather than separating them from it for most of the year.

This raises an important question that Kenya must confront honestly. Why have we normalised the idea that children must leave home in order to succeed academically? At what point did society begin equating emotional distance, institutional living, and overcrowded dormitories with educational excellence? A child is not simply a candidate preparing for examinations. A child requires emotional presence, parental guidance, conversation, correction, affection, and stability. Things that no institution, regardless of reputation, can fully replace.

The uncomfortable truth is that boarding schools have increasingly become substitutes for parenting. Many parents today are overwhelmed by economic pressures and demanding work schedules, while others genuinely believe boarding schools provide better discipline and structure. In some marginalized regions, boarding facilities still serve a legitimate purpose by improving access to education.

Academic success

However, in many ordinary urban and semi-urban settings, children are still being sent away not because there is no nearby school, but because society has convinced parents that “serious education” only happens inside boarding institutions.

As a result, teachers are increasingly expected to carry responsibilities that should primarily belong to families. They are expected not only to educate, but also to discipline, mentor, supervise, counsel, monitor emotions, and shape character for hundreds of learners at once.

No education system, regardless of how efficient it appears, can sustainably replace the emotional and psychological role of parents in a child’s life. When children spend most of the year under institutional supervision, many parents slowly become visitors in their own children’s lives, often discovering emotional struggles only when they become crises.

The Utumishi Girls tragedy should therefore challenge Kenya to rethink more than infrastructure and safety regulations. It should force the country to rethink its philosophy of education itself. Perhaps the future lies not in children spending more time away from home, but in strengthening day schools, improving transport systems, investing in community-based education, and rebuilding parental involvement in children’s lives. The world’s strongest education systems are already showing that academic success does not require children to grow up inside dormitories.

As Kenya mourns the young lives lost at Utumishi Girls Academy, the country must find the courage to ask difficult questions about traditions we have accepted for generations. Not every educational culture deserves preservation simply because it has existed for decades. Sometimes the safest, healthiest, and most human place for a child after school is not a dormitory or institution. It is home.

Liankor Jairus is a Public Relations Associate Consultant at P&L Consulting Group