The principal of Utumishi Girls Academy has been placed on compulsory leave as part of wide-ranging reforms that have cleared the way for the school's reopening, more than a month after a dormitory fire killed 16 students.
The resolution was reached after an eight-hour meeting between parents and Ministry of Education officials on Monday, June 29. During the meeting, parents agreed to allow students to return to school after previously opposing the reopening over lingering safety concerns.
The school will resume learning in phases, with Form Four students expected to report on Thursday, July 2, while learners in the remaining classes will return on Monday, July 6.
On Sunday, parents had refused to send their daughters back, maintaining they needed concrete assurances that sufficient safety measures had been implemented to avert a repeat of the deadly May fire.
They also faulted the school administration for failing to present a comprehensive plan detailing the reforms introduced after the tragedy, which claimed 16 lives and sparked concerns about adherence to school safety regulations.
Following further engagements with Ministry of Education officials, parents endorsed a series of administrative and infrastructural reforms, with the compulsory leave of the principal highlighted among the major changes.
The latest move comes weeks after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba disbanded the school's Board of Management for failing to comply with the School Safety Manual and the Basic Education Regulations.
Parents were further assured that learners would be housed in dormitories untouched by the fire, while the National Police Service (NPS) is putting up temporary structures to provide additional accommodation as permanent facilities are developed.
"The dormitories that were not affected by the fire will accommodate our girls. The National Police Service is also putting up temporary structures for the students," one parent said after the meeting.
To ease congestion during the transition, the school will enlarge its dining hall and convert two classrooms into temporary dormitories as construction of new accommodation facilities gets underway.
Although they agreed to the reopening, some parents criticised the government, saying it had not done enough to support the reconstruction of the school's infrastructure.
"We are giving the government until August to act. It cannot be that the government can spend hundreds of millions to construct a stadium in Wajir but cannot set aside Ksh30 million for a simple dormitory," one parent said.
Meanwhile, the Kibera High Court has directed that the eight students facing murder charges over the Utumishi Girls Academy fire undergo mental assessments.
The students, who appeared virtually before Deputy Registrar Barbara Akinyi after the case was transferred from Naivasha, will be evaluated by a child psychiatrist at Mathare Mental Hospital and also assessed by a Children's Officer before the matter proceeds.
