Directors of the 348 boarding schools earmarked for closure for non-compliance to safety standards can breathe easy as the government has given them four more weeks to comply.
This came after a joint meeting with the Ministry of Education and the Private Schools Association where the head of the organisation informed the ministry that most of the schools on the list were in the process of rectifying their shortcomings.
“As we talked, the idea is the schools that had those problems are supposed to make good those areas which were not right,” the head of the association stated.
This came just a day after Members of Parliament hit out at the ministry for making a rash decision to close the schools instead of performing a follow-up assessment for the schools that had since conducted renovations.
The MPs noted that the ministry officials should have considered schools that had taken the prior warning to correct their deficiencies.
“The ministry officials did not go back after three months to confirm compliance by reinspection of the schools so that they could make a decision on whether to close or not,” South Mugirango MP Silvanus Osoro said.
The notice, issued on November 27, sent industry officials into panic mode as well as teachers and students.
Principals and directors of the affected schools condemned the decision, stating that the government had placed them in an impossible situation.
They faulted the government for failing to consult them before giving the directive.
''It was not fair to us because according to the letter, it was indicated that the assessment was done by the Ministry. I want to be very sincere that we have not received any officers from the Ministry,'' Jackson Ombati, a director at a private school said.
Parents at the affected schools also asked the government to reverse the decision to give them time to move their children to other schools.
The schools' assessment and the eventual closure was prompted by a deadly dormitory fire at Endarasha Hillside Academy where 21 boys perished.
Calls to close boarding primary schools echoed across the country with the ministry finally deciding to make impromptu evaluations of the schools in September and October.
