Kenya has over the years beefed up measures to ensure safety and efficiency in schools.
Cases of fire incidents and other accidents in schools have contributed to the adoption of strict measures over the years, as stakeholders seek to prevent a repeat of past devastating incidents.
The process of opening a school starts with the proprietor communicating to the regional education board in writing.
The applicant should provide the name of the proposed institution, the name and qualifications of the manager, the land registration (LR) number/leasehold and the site plan.
In turn, the board- which is the representative of the Education Ministry in the counties, deploys a team to check on the suitability of the site, and consider issues of school mapping and access in the area, especially for public schools.
Among the considerations made in the case of public schools are the population of an area and the distance to the nearest school.
The guidelines state that the distance between one public school and another should not be more than 2½ km for ECD and primary schools.
Once satisfied that the requirements are met, the education board will grant permission to construct or lease the physical facilities.
In the same breadth, registered or approved schools can be registered in instances such as where an institution fails to maintain the required standards.
Involvement in exam irregularities like cheating, poaching and export of candidates can also lead to deregistration.
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Other minimum requirements for the establishment of a school are ensuring that the physical facilities are disability friendly.
For private schools, the selected manager must (for private schools only) have a minimum of Third Division ‘O’ Level/D+ KCSE qualification while the manager who oversees day–to–day running of the institution should have the necessary professional qualifications as a teacher.
For private schools, a person selected to be the headteacher should have a minimum of a P1 certificate (Primary school) and a degree in Education (Secondary).
Physical Requirements for Establishing a School
According to the Ministry of Education, all buildings and infrastructure should be disability friendly.
The doors/windows- the guidelines state, must open to the outside with no burglar proof on windows.
For the classrooms, the spacing should be at least 1.2 sq metres per pupil and 8 metres x6 metres for 40 pupils.
Science Rooms should be at least 2.4 sq metres per pupil 12 metres x8 metres ( 40 pupils).
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Also key in the process of considering the suitability of a site are toilets and other sanitation amenities.
For the hostels, the Ministry stipulates that spaces between beds should be at least 1.0 metres either way.
The hostels should also have adequate ablution blocks adjacent to the hostel/dormitory.
Beds must be single or double-deckers and not any other. All doors/windows must open to the outside and with bulgar proof.
Minimum requirements for CBC schools
With the entry of the Competence Based Curriculum, the Ministry issued an updated set of guidelines meant to ensure that all schools offering the curriculum have requisite resources.
The guidelines for CBC include having adequate classrooms and compliance with the CBC.
Classrooms must also have enough desks and chairs and have enough spaces required for all courses or programs offered in the institution.
Senior secondary schools are required to have enough facilities to offer at least two pathways with schools offering STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects will also have the specific additional facilities to offer all four tracks.
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