By Norah Musega
Properties of unknown value destroyed in yester nights’ fire incident which razed down a 170 capacity dormitory at St. Michaels Nyandema mixed secondary school.
Confirming the incident Migori county commander Mark Wanjala told the education news that the fire started at 8pm during night preps.
Wanjala said despite efforts to put off the fire, no items were salvaged and the dormitory building was completely destroyed by fire.
“Personal effects belonging to the students were completely destroyed in the fire. The fire also weakened the wall of the building and therefore cannot be utilized. “ said Wanjala.
He noted that investigations into the cause of fire are yet to be established as investigations have been launched into the matter by the police and investigators to help unravel what might have caused the fire.
This becomes the third school to report a fire inferno after a similar incident at Osingo mixed and St. Peters Abwao secondary schools within the county. It also brings the number of schools affected by fire infernos across the country to more than ten within three weeks of opening.
One week ago principal secretary, state department of early learning and basic education in the ministry of education Dr. Julius Jwan warned students against destruction of school property through fire or any other means.
Jwan told off parents at Migori primary school during his visit to the county during the official commissioning of four classrooms funded by national government constituency development fund (NG-CDF) Suna West that parents should prepare to carry the burden of reconstructing any building destroyed by learners for whatever reason.
“the government cannot spend a lot of taxpayers money of developing infrastructure in our schools just for some indiscipline students to destroy it in hours. The ministry of education in conjunction with that of interior and coordination of national government will ensure that anyone found guilty to have started fire in any school faces the law.” Said Jwan.
He called on parents to work closely with school administrators to impact discipline among learners.
His sentiments were also shared by Suna West member of parliament hon. Peter Masara who also challenged parents to avoid fights with teachers but to embrace dialogue as an amicable way of solving issues and developing schools for the sake of their children.
