Schools should take govt guidelines on fires seriously

This week, this newspaper reported the story of Madibira Primary School pupils in Busia District who foiled an attack by a suspected arsonist.

The 55 occupants of the boys’ dormitory raised an alarm after a stranger, they say, doused their dormitory with petrol. One of the pupils said the attacker was dressed in a black jacket and had a hood over his head, adding that he first disabled all the security light bulbs before accessing the boys’ dormitory.

Had it not been for the smell of petrol that engulfed the dormitory, the story could have had a tragic ending, for the pupils had to scamper for safety through windows as the door had already been locked from outside by the assailant.

This close call reminds us of the trend that we witnessed in the recent past.

Following a number of fires that gutted schools, leaving tens of learners dead and properties worth hundreds of millions reduced to ashes, government conducted a countrywide investigation to determine the cause of the fires.

The year-long investigation, whose report was released in April, revealed that most fires were deliberate acts of arson. The report also cited negligence among  school administrators and students, poor maintenance of school property, congestion in dormitories, and lack of fire-fighting equipment, among others.

A day after the report was released, it came to light that the Ministry of Education and Sports had issued tough guidelines for schools that operate boarding facilities to follow before second term started in May.

The guidelines included installing CCTV cameras, maintaining separate food storage areas from other stores, and ensuring ample food supply capable of sustaining the students for at least one month.

The rules directly related to school fires included having guards stationed on 24-hour duty, and boosted by workers with basic security training and stationed within the dormitories.

They also included proper electrical wiring with regular power audits, functional fire extinguisher on every block of the dormitories, at least two clearly marked emergency exits in each dormitory, no burglar-proofed windows, and appropriate space between beds to ease movement.

Education permanent secretary Ketty Lamaro had warned that any school found to be non-compliant and operating below 50 percent of the set rules would be shut down.

But the incident at Madibira Primary School shows us just how relaxed schools and authorities, both at the local and central government level, are in enforcing these guidelines.

Our appeal is for schools to take the guidelines very seriously and implement them to the letter. We have lost too many innocent lives already.

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