Two Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls High School students are receiving treatment at Kakamega County General Teaching and Referral Hospital, 22 others are being treated at St. Elizabeth Mission Hospital in Mukumu while another 38 students have been referred to outpatient care in the two medical facilities.
This comes despite the government’s affirmation to parents that it is sorting out the health issues in the school even after students reported feeling unwell leading to their hospitalization days after the school reopened.
Members of Parliament have however accused the State for failing to take necessary measures to protect the students and teachers at the school.
National Assembly Education Committee Chairman Julius Melly lamented of overcrowding in schools and asked the Ministry of Education to look into the issue of sanitation, food and cleanliness in boarding schools.
“We are worried that our children have been admitted to various hospitals immediately after the school reopened. This is serious. There could be something wrong with the school environment that the institution’s management is not telling parents,” the National Parents Association (NPA) Chairperson Silas Obuhatsa said.
The school had been forced to shut down a month ago after the outbreak of an unknown illness which saw 3 students pass on and 44 others and one teacher admitted to hospital.
Laboratory findings recorded that 16 students had malaria, 6 suffered from gastritis and peptic ulcer disease, 4 had acute gastroenteritis, 3 had pneumonia while 2 had sepsis.
Five other students were diagnosed with urinary tract infections, one with anaemia and two with brucellosis. Two students had salmonellosis and three others had tonsillitis, syncope and leptospirosis.
Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu pledged that the government would ensure a permanent solution to the matter.
“We are sorting out the problem. There was an outbreak which made it necessary for us to send the students home. There are now some isolated cases. We have dealt with the water and food,” he said.
By Thuita Jaswant
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