Firefighters in Kisumu County on Sunday, September 17, swung into action after a section of Kisumu Boys High School caught fire.
According to reports, the inferno destroyed part of the school’s dormitory and pavilion. However, the firefighters arrived and managed to contain the fire before it spread to other areas.
Further, no casualties were reported from the incident.
Speaking to the media at the school, Kisumu County Commissioner Hussein Alassow confirmed that calm had returned to the institution.
Furthermore, officials advised parents to visit the school for further clarification as investigations to unearth the cause of the fire continued.
The fire outbreak at Kisumu Boys came hours after the indefinite closure of Kisumu Girls High School.
Kisumu Girls unrest
On Sunday, officials from the Ministry of Education and Kisumu Girls’ administration resorted to closing the school after hours of unrest and student tension.
In a statement to the press, Nyanza Regional Director of Education Nelson Sifuna announced that students at the school started complaining from Friday last week over various grievances.
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After the intervention from officials from the ministry, the students wrote down their grievances.
Subsequently, the Ministry promised to investigate and address the matters raised among them being corporal punishment.
Meanwhile, Kisumu Girls students were sent home pending investigations and decision by the Ministry of Education.
KCSE Exams
The two schools are the latest to experience student unrest. This comes at a crucial time when candidates sitting for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination enter the homestretch period.
Also Read: Kisumu Girls Closed Indefinitely
According to the timetable released by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) some candidates will start their exams from as early as October 10. And run until November 24.
Cases of fire outbreaks are, however, not new to high schools especially in the period nearing the exams.
In the past, fire outbreaks have been blamed on the mock examinations imposed on candidates in preparation for the national examinations.
In July, Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang wrote a letter to all regional directors of education reminding them to enforce the ban of mock and joint exams.
