School heads face arrest over fire safety

By Vision Reporters

Following the rampant fire outbreaks in schools, the Government plans to crack down school owners who have failed to adhere to the safety guidelines.

In an exclusive interview, the education minister Jessica Alupo said the days of using gloves to enforce safety in schools were over. “We are invoking the policy on safety in schools to punish whoever fails to implement safety guidelines. The time of tolerating negligence is over,” she said.

Alupo directed education officials to arrest head teachers and schools managers, whose schools do not meet the required safety standards.

Over 30 schools, including Merryland High, Hamdan Girls High School in Mbale and Uringi Secondary school in Nebbi, have been gutted with fire since 2008, which has left parents in constant fear over the security of their children.

The latest incident occurred in Leos Junior Primary School in Nyendo, Masaka, killing five lower primary pupils, and injuring others, including their matron.

The incident brought back the sad memories of the 2008 fire outbreak in Budo Junior School in which 19 lower school pupils perished.

Alupo said she had called an emergence meeting on Tuesday to discuss the lapse in security in schools and come up with the way forward. “We shall also come up with a comprehensive safety policy that will set tough penalties for those who fail to adhere,” she said.

Alupo said she would also find out where the inter-ministerial committee, that was constituted after the Budo fire, to probe fires in schools, rested its roles.

Following the Budo Junior fire, the Government set up several measures to promote safety in schools, but with time, the move lost heat and direction.

Such measures include fixing a fire extinguisher on every school block, training students in fire-fighting and creating an emergency exit on every building.

Others are; fixing a fire alarm on every building, creating ample walking space between beds in dormitories and a ban on the use of triple deckers and burglar proof in windows and doors. However, only a small number of schools have adhered to the guidelines, leaving the learners at risk.

Some school owners argue that some measures are expensive. Ayub Kiwanuka, the head of Islamic Secondary School in Mbale, said the Government had not come out to help private schools acquire safety gadgets.

“In addition to buying fire-fighting gadgets, we are required to have lightening arrestors, which are very expensive. The Government should subsidise these gadgets,” Kiwanuka said.

Although adherence to the safety guidelines hinges on supervision, some districts lack infrastructure and personnel needed to carry out effective supervision.

For instance, Masaka district lacks an inspector of schools. The duty of inspection has, for long, been handled by the district education officer, who said she was overwhelmed.