By Fredrick Odiero
Parents from Kisumu County are infuriated over the move by the Ministry of Education to impose a blanket ban on boarding sections in primary schools in the country.
Led by the National Parents’ Association (NPA) Kisumu County chapter Chairman Edwin Ogutu Ndege, the group said the matter has not been subjected to public participation.
He said that the proposal was not made during public participation sessions hosted by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms countrywide and that such a sensitive report ought to have come from the President.
Ndege said boarding schools are essential for children whose parents work in the military and other demanding places of work; and orphans who have nobody to stay with.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Dr. Belio Kipsang said that abolishing primary boarding schools would allow learners to bond more with their parents.
Dr. Kipsang also reiterated that the move would make education more affordable for needy students.
However, the ban will not affect schools in semi-arid areas to enable parents in those areas to look for sources of livelihood and pasture for their livestock without disrupting the education of their children.
“When their parents go out to look for pasture, we want to ensure the children are in school,” he said.
