As schools open this week for the second term, parents expect assurances from the education authorities on their children’s safety.
The parents, teachers and officials will have to confront the bitter memory of last term’s fatal disease outbreaks. This is a tough situation to be in as parents expect their children to be safe in school.
The deaths of three students and a teacher and hospitalisation of many other learners in a western Kenya school remain the talking point on the need to secure the learning environment. Hopefully, education officials and school administrators have used the holiday to get to the bottom of the problem.
More important are the insights gained on what could have been done differently. The authorities must establish what exactly happened at Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls High School and come up with strict measures to prevent schools from feeding learners toxic grains. The culprits of the tragic incident should be pursued and punished to avert a recurrence.
After a rather slow start, it is commendable that the Education authorities moved quickly to avert more trouble by closing the school. There are stark lessons from this that must be reflected on deeply as safety is boosted.
Whenever parents entrust their children to teachers, they expect that their lives will not be endangered and they will be return home healthy.
Whenever such an incident occurs, the teachers are expected to move quickly and take charge. Teachers must be present at all times to give guidance and take swift action to secure lives.
Principals and education officials must ensure that measures are in place to avoid a repeat of such fatal incidents. Regular safety drills are an effective way to raise awareness among the school community of the grave risk in schools.
Schools must build the capacity to deliver First Aid. Boarding institutions need dispensaries manned by competent health workers. The young ones must be quickly attended to and referred to nearby health centres and hospitals when such an incident occurs.
