The Ministry of Education published a list of boarding primary schools that have not complied with school safety rules this week and ordered the closure of about 350.
The audit, conducted between August and September, was prompted by the Endarasha Academy tragedy in which 18 children died in a night dorm fire in September.
Boarding schools, both primary and secondary, have a history of tragic fires. In some cases, arsons have ended the lives of innocent learners.
The first major safety review was conducted after the Kyanguli school tragedy of 2001 in which 67 students died after a group of rogue boys set a dormitory on fire.
The bureaucrats have made the right decision.
But the question that must be asked and answered is how the schools that have been ordered shut were approved and licensed by the same bureaucrats.
And in any event, the ministry has senior officers in just about every county whose responsibility is to check for safety standards.
And if the boarding schools were operating right under noses, how then can they implement the close-down order?
The ministry must develop an annual safety audit and ensure schools conduct fire drills at least once a year.
Quote of the Day: “A person usually has two reasons for doing something, a good reason and the real reason.”
Thomas Carlyle
The Scottish essayist and historian was born on December 4, 1795
