School fire insurance should be made mandatory for all learning institutions due to the many frequent fire incidences which have inevitably caused huge losses to schools and students, Imenti South Deputy County Commissioner Ms. Mary Mwangi has said.
She regretted that schools bore losses amounting to millions of shillings forcing the affected learning institutions to result to unnecessary fundraising efforts to reconstruct damaged facilities whilst students lose valuable time.
Speaking during the disbursement of bursary funds worth Ksh 36 million to needy students in South Imenti constituency offices at Kanyakine market, Ms Mwangi said this denies learners an opportunity to study and compete with peers on the same footing noting that with insurance the reconstruction will be completed in record time without bothering the already over-burdened parents.
“We want school fire insurance cover for all schools within this sub county to be made mandatory,” she said.
Ms Mwangi said four schools have been affected by fires since last year with the latest incident occurring at Mutungulu Day and Boarding Secondary School, where the principal, who had struggled with diabetes for a long time, died due to shock upon receiving the devastating news.
Education stakeholders reiterated the sentiments and called on school heads to ponder on the issue with their Boards of Management and secure insurance for their schools.
By John Majau
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