School unrest smolders in Kenya as dormitories go up in flames

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Police in Kenya have arrested 11 students over a fire that broke out at a high school and destroyed its dormitory, resulting in the hospitalization of 42 students to receive treatment for smoke inhalation and light injuries.

"Seven students were arrested last evening while four were arrested this morning. They are assisting in investigations to establish the real cause of the fire," Daniel Ndege, the central deputy county commissioner in Kirinyaga county, told reporters, adding that Kerugoya Girls High School had been closed.

The injured students were taken to a local hospital where they were treated. A majority were later discharged.

Dozens of schools in Kenya have been closed due to arson cases, with at least 35 having been closed in the past month alone.

Education Minister George Magoha warned last week that, "anybody planning to burn the building (of a school), just remember that if you are caught, you will not go to any school. Definitely not any public school in this country. We shall charge you and it shall remain in your record."

"If we catch those who are bold enough to torch a building, their parents will rebuild that building. The government will not pay a penny, their parents shall build them, full stop."

Students who spoke to Anadolu Agency over the arson cases said the unrest had been the result of a lack of rest after a break amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On why schools are going up in smoke, education experts say that fear of examinations was in most cases to blame, though they have also pointed to the one year that students spent at home having played a major role in the arson cases.

Stress over long learning hours with fewer breaks has also been linked to the fires, to catch up on the curriculum, as learning institutions in the Horn of Africa nation have been working overtime.

Wairimu, 16, said that since the COVID-19 break was lifted "we have been studying 24/7. Even the breaks are short. Where we used to take a one-month break, now we only take 1 week. We're so tired, people were used to staying at home due to COVID-19, we need to adapt, otherwise students will keep burning their dormitories because when it happens we are sent home."

Other students who spoke to Anadolu Agency voiced the same sentiments, though Education Minister Magoha does not believe the unrest is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said such allegations were "not true."

In 2016, over 230 schools were closed across Kenya over arson cases. The Education Ministry announced that students across the country would take a compulsory break on Nov. 19-23 after a petition was filed by the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association to allow students to have some time to rest.