School fires,Teachers’ and University Students’ strikes: Kenya’s run-down education system

A deadly school fire.

On the night of Friday, September 6th, a fire broke out at a boys’ dormitory at Hillside Endarasha Academy, a private boarding primary school in Nyeri County, Kenya. Unfortunately, 21 children died, 27 more were injured, and many more are said to be missing despite government reports that all children have been accounted for.

The incident was the first in a slew of school fires reported in multiple boarding schools across the country.

Kenya seems to live in periodic and cyclical school fires that are mostly reported as a result of student unrest and cases of targeted arson. In 2016 alone, 130 cases of school fires were reported across the country.

In 2001, the country witnessed the deadliest school fire incident to date when 67 students died in a school fire at Kyanguli Secondary School, when a dormitory was razed down in an arson plot, implicating two of the students in the school.

Several risk factors contribute to student unrest and dissatisfaction in many boarding schools, particularly secondary schools, within the country.

To contain them, the education ministry ought to;

• Revamp the learning curriculum to reduce the learning workload on students; preventing them from getting frustrated and overwhelmed with their academic workload.
• Improve the living conditions of boarding students, making their living and learning quarters safer and less susceptible to fire incidents.
• Implement ways to address and resolve student concerns on administrative issues within the school, as these are some of the main causes behind student unrest.
• Create support systems within schools to improve the students’ mental health by providing robust counselling and self-care services.
• Introduce and enforce fire safety procedures in boarding institutions within the country. These may include; instituting fire alarms and drills, strategically placing firefighting equipment (e.g. fire extinguishers), incorporating fire escape routes into school buildings and conducting regular inspections and risk assessments within schools.

However, arson is not the only reason to blame for the predisposition of many of these boarding institutions to fires. Fire hazards, such as faulty electricity, unattended fires, cluttered living spaces and the presence of highly flammable materials can also lead to the occurrence of fires. All in all, many boarding institutions do not implement the necessary fire safety procedures to curb and prevent the emergence of fires, as is suspected to be the case in the Endarasha Academy incident.

Despite substantial documentation of school fires within the country, a coordinated response to implement a long-term solution to the problem is erringly absent. Furthermore, the Endarasha Academy fire incident highlighted the slow response of first responders to contain the fire which would have reduced the number of casualties reported in the incident.

That said, the recent fire incidents continue to expose the incompetency and impunity in which the government operates.  Government officials have handled the recent fire incident with an air of arrogant nonchalance.

The President initially offered a generic consolation message on X, as he was busy on the next phase of his global tour in Germany, signing off more Kenyan youths to work entry-level jobs in a first-world country.

The Education Cabinet Secretary, Julius Migos came under fire for making a ‘bloated’ appearance at the scene, which culminated in the death of an innocent citizen when his convoy was allegedly involved in an accident with a boda boda rider on his way from the school.

The government’s response to the incident is a reactionary one. Actions have come in too little too late and at the cost of the loss of innocent lives.

The recent wave of school fires continually raises questions of safety in many of the country’s boarding schools. Many parents send their children to boarding schools as they believe they offer a better learning environment with fewer distractions for children. They entrust the care and oversight of their children to teachers and other staff, expecting to receive their children alive and well during the holidays.

Nonetheless, the incident has also raised questions surrounding the viability of sending children as young as nine years old to boarding schools, at an age where they should be bonding and learning from their parents.

The teachers’ strike.

On Monday, September 2nd, the Kenyan Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) called off the nationwide teachers’ strike after reaching an agreement with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). The strike had been ongoing for a week starting August 26^th 2024, as the teachers continued to push for the implementation of the 2^nd phase of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) 2021-2025.

The teachers raised concerns over delayed promotions, salary increments as per the CBA and medical covers.

The education system was left hanging in the balance, especially as the third term drew was due to resume and some schools were forced to send their learners back home.

Periodic teacher strikes and industrial action have become a mainstay of Kenya’s education system and seem to be the only way that teachers can rightfully lobby for their needs. The same could be said for all other workers in the civil service including doctors, nurses and social workers.

Teachers play a central role in civil service and the educational sector. To enhance the efficiency of the teaching workforce, the government ought to;

• Balance the rate of hiring new teachers with the rate of retiring ones, while keeping in mind the rate of student enrollment to schools which continues to increase each year.
• Integrate the teaching staff into the new Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) model. The hiring of junior secondary school teachers was of great contention, but the government should also work towards hiring them into the permanent teaching workforce.
• Improving the quality of life of the teaching practice, by offering medical insurance and educational coverage for teachers wishing to pursue higher education to bolster their skillset and knowledge.

The cumbersome university education funding model.

In a statement issued on September 8th, the Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Migos announced two committees would be established to engage students and stakeholders in discussions on the newly implemented university funding model. The committees would review the viability of the model and make recommendations for its improvement.

In the meantime, Migos urged student leaders to call off student demos against the funding model that had been planned to start on Monday, 9^th September to create room for engagement in meaningful discussions on the issue without the disruption of learning.

However, many students decried the calls by the CS and the subsequent announcements made by the student leaders who announced a postponement of the strike by 30 days. They took to the streets on Monday to express their dissatisfaction with the funding model.

The leaders gave the government an ultimatum and a window of time to act upon its promises, hence the demos would resume as planned.

Many students, however, claimed that their leaders were being compromised into calling off the demos and that the 30-day notice was a ploy to hoodwink them into letting the proposed model remain afloat. The committees and dialogue ought to have happened before the model was implemented and forcibly integrated into the educational system. They have thus called for a massive overhaul of the funding model or for it to be completely scrapped.

The new higher education funding model was unveiled by President Ruto on May 3, 2023. It is aimed at addressing challenges encountered by public universities, and technical and vocational educational institutions due to mass enrollment and inadequate funding.

The model is made up of loans, scholarships and contributions made by student households. It is a Student-Centered Funding Model (SCFM) which replaces the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) model which was a mainstay in the previous university funding model.

It utilizes a Means Testing Instrument to assess the level of need for funding students who require government sponsorships.  It then classifies students into five bands based on their financial background and needs and the cost of the course.

The funding model is overseen by several key entities.

• University Fund: Grants scholarships to students.
• Higher Education Loans Board (HELB): Extends loans to students.
• Kenyan Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS): Oversees the placement of KCSE graduates into institutions of higher learning.
• Higher learning Institutions: Recipients of funds, scholarships and loans from the funding entities.
• Parents and guardians: Contribute household funds towards their children’s education.

The model imposes an unnecessary burden on students from poor households and consistently places students in the wrong bands.

Headaches surrounding the new university funding model.

• Managing the financial deficit in many public universities. The Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) model helped facilitate increased enrolment of government-sponsored students into public and private universities. However, a gross mismanagement of resources in many public universities and colleges created financial loopholes which were exacerbated by the high student enrolment, driving many of these institutions into sinking debt and at the verge of collapse.
• Making university education affordable while reducing its financial constraints on students. Affordable education is a key deliverable of any effective governance mechanism. It is anchored upon arming students from poor backgrounds with education, giving them a chance to pursue viable career paths that can help them dig themselves out of poverty.
• Improving the learning conditions of public institutions of higher learning. Many public institutions of higher learning are in a run-down state and lack the necessary infrastructure required to equip students with practical skills to fit in the current job market.

Strengthening the country’s educational system would be key to improving its position and competitiveness in the regional and global setting. A run-down system offers less incentive for learners to keep learning it. Each day, more Kenyan parents are choosing to enrol their children into alternative curriculums (such as the British or American learning curriculums) and sending them to pursue tertiary education abroad once they are of age.  

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