The death of 21 boys at the Hillside Endarasha Academy fire incident, has been described as a turning point in ensuring there is adequate security for learners in all education facilities across the country.
Education Cabinet Secretary, Julius Migos, said never again will parents and learners be subjected to unnecessary anxiety about the safety of their children in the hands of learning institutions following the Hillside Endarasha Academy fire tragedy on September 5.
Migos who was speaking during an interdenominational funeral service for the victims at the Mweiga Stadium, reiterated the Government’s commitment to unearthing the cause of the fire that claimed 21 learners, before making the findings public at an appropriate time.
“As Ministry we have made a decision that this has to be a turning point. Our schools must be safe havens for nurturing the potential of our children. Parents and guardians should not live in anxiety over the safety and security of their children. We as a ministry are carrying out an audit to establish if there was any omission on the part of our officers. I want to give an assurance that we will hold to account anybody found culpable for this incident,” said the CS during the event that was also attended by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, several elected lawmakers and leading oppositional figures.
The CS also pledged the Government’s continued support to the all the parents who were in one way or another affected by the devastating fire in order to ensure they can settle down again.
He said the tragedy caught the nation by shock and touched all and sundry in one of the worst fire incidents to have hit the country in recent years.
And to underscore the magnitude of the loss, Migos took time to read the entire list of all the 21 boys, terming them notable individuals whose names will never be forgotten.
“I have read these names because I want each one of us to know that they are not just numbers and they are not going to be just part of statistics. We need to remember their names.” said Migos.
“Whenever we send our children to school, we do so in the hope that we are preparing them for a promising future. We don’t expect or even imagine that harm will befall them in the school environment. We have commissioned a national audit of all public and private boarding schools to determine the level of compliance with the school safety manual and we will take firm action to ensure (there is) compliance with its requirement.’’
Governor Mutahi Kahiga, called for additional support to both the affected parents and the proprietor of the School, Mr David Kinyua, to pick-up from where the accident left them.
The County Boss noted that whereas the government had done much in supporting the families who lost their children in the fire, two others were still admitted in hospital while 141 others lost everything in the aftermath of the inferno.
“This school has formed part of the community that dwell nearby for many years now. It has produced some of the best students in national exams and many parents prefer to bring their children here instead of taking them to nearby public schools due to its sterling performance. But as we speak children who survived this tragedy were stripped-off every valuable asset they had. We, therefore, need to plan how we are going to assist them by providing them with what they lost before they can report back to school,” said Kahiga.
So far, the Hillside Academy Fire Disaster Management that is co-chaired by acting Region Commissioner, Pius Murugu and Kahiga, has helped in clearing funeral expenses for the victims.
In addition, each of the affected families has been given Sh 100,000 to help cater for burial expenses and other attendant expenses.
To stagger the process of interring the bodies, nine of the victims will be buried today while 10 will be entombed tomorrow.
The remaining two victims will be buried on Saturday before the Hillside Academy Fire Disaster Management Committee meets again on Monday, to deliberate on modalities of reopening the school.
Prior to the fire incident, the school had a combined population of total of 824 pupils.
The number of boarders in the school at the time was 330 pupils with 166 of them being girls.
The rest of the school’s population are day scholars.
Out of the 164 pupils who were sleeping in the dormitory on that fateful night, 19boys perished on the spot while two others died while receiving specialized treatment in hospital.
By Samuel Maina and Wangari Mwangi
