Kenyan kids burn schools, kill classmates
NAIROBI – Almost 50 fires have ripped through Kenyan schools this year, 16 schoolgirls have died, and more than 100 schools have temporarily closed. Everyone knows there is a crisis, but few have solutions. To many, Kenya’s strange and deadly spate of arson attacks is the result of an education system buckling under chronic funding... The post Kenyan kids burn schools, kill classmates appeared first on New Era .
NAIROBI – Almost 50 fires have ripped through Kenyan schools this year, 16 schoolgirls have died, and more than 100 schools have temporarily closed. Everyone knows there is a crisis, but few have solutions.
To many, Kenya’s strange and deadly spate of arson attacks is the result of an education system buckling under chronic funding shortfalls and corruption.
Problems are exacerbated by Kenyans’ preference for boarding schools – a legacy of the British colonial system – where children spend months away from parents in institutions often associated with overcrowding, underfunding and abuse.
On 28 May, 16 girls were burned alive after their dormitory at the Utumishi Girls’ Academy in Nakuru County was set ablaze at night. Nine of their classmates are under investigation.
Tasha, 15, only escaped after frantic friends battered down a door that had been locked from the outside, in contravention of fire regulations.
