Laikipia Education officials have shut down two primary schools in Laikipia East Sub County and another one given one week to adhere to pupil safety failure to which they will face a similar fate.
The operation lead by Laikipia East Deputy County Commissioner (DCC), Esther Mwamure and local education officials revoked the registration of Ephma academy in Timau area and Bridge International School in Likii village, ordered them closed and the pupils be absorbed in nearby public schools for failure to meet safety standards for learners.
Another private school, Spring Fair Academy was given one-week ultimatum to renovate and expand classrooms that are clustered in the school’s tiny compound and also relocate a kitchen that is adjacent to classrooms to avert disaster in case of a fire outbreak.
Ms. Mwamure said the move was prompted by the directive from the Ministry of Education that the safety of learners should be ensured in all schools to avert disaster or any other catastrophe that might befall pupils and students.
“We wouldn’t want to suffer an incident where a learner is injured or dies while at a learning institution and that’s why we’re enforcing the directive in full,” the DCC said.
She added that all the pupils in the affected schools would be enrolled in nearby public schools including Kenya Certificate of Primary Education candidates who would also be registered to sit examinations in the same nearby schools
The Laikipia sub-county Director of Education, Kiamathi Kiara said that Ephma Academy that had 130 pupils, among them 21 KCPE candidates, which operated as a private day and boarding primary had dilapidated structures that served as classrooms and dormitory, lacked proper latrines and all the 11 teachers were not registered by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
“We have noted with concern that this institution was not implementing the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) since the teachers are not trained to P1 scale and only had Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) certificates,” Kiara said.
The education official further said that they had discovered that ECDE pupils and those in grades one, two and three had been combined in one class and were being taught by a single teacher.
At Bridge International School with a population of 88 pupils, the education officials noted that the institution lacked adequate space for classrooms and playground as it was put up in a quarter-acre piece of land, had dilapidated classrooms, lacked windows and proper doors and also that the proprietors had failed to have the institution registered by the relevant ministry.
By Martin Munyi
