How safe are boarding schools?
ONE of the most booming investments in the country is schools. But the big question disturbing most parents is whether the premises of these schools are safe for their children.
John Nchimbi
ONE of the most booming investments in the country is schools. But the big question disturbing most parents is whether the premises of these schools are safe for their children.
Given the fact that most schools are set up for commercial purposes, it is not uncommon that most of them lack the most basics facilities. One finds that in a school of more than 600 students, there are only two pit latrines. Many schools have been burnt either accidentally or by arsonists.
Faced with such tragedies what can parents do to ensure the safety of their children? One of the major problems facing these schools is the way dormitories are built. a dormitory accommodating more than 200 students has only one door and the windows are burglar-proofed!
If by some chance there is an emergency door it is not surprising to find it securely locked! in some schools it is the warden or matron who locks the door. All this is done in the name of preventing students from escaping at night. but do the administrators and teachers realise the danger they put the students who sleep in such buildings? This is not mere speculation. A student who had been locked in the dormitory was burnt to death at Naalya Secondary School, Namugongo Campus!
Why should the lives of these innocent students put in such danger? Surely there should be another more reasonable way of enforcing discipline. How do the teachers and Education officers feel when such a thing happens?
To crown it all, very few schools have fire extinguishers. Out of 10 boarding schools upcountry, only two might have them and yet they are essential because fire can break out any time! The Ministry of Education should make this requirement mandatory.
Most school administrators ignore them out of carelessness or because they want to maximise profits from their ‘business’. But they forget that the most important ‘capital’ is actually the students.
To make matters worse, even the administrators in the schools which have the equipment make no effort to teach their students how to use them. Where is the future of this country when school administrators cannot protect the children in their charge?
The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow and the danger is that they are being taught the wrong practices which they might emulate themselves when their time comes. What then would be the meaning of education?
The writer is a student at Makerere University
ONE of the most booming investments in the country is schools. But the big question disturbing most parents is whether the premises of these schools are safe for their children.
Given the fact that most schools are set up for commercial purposes, it is not uncommon that most of them lack the most basics facilities. One finds that in a school of more than 600 students, there are only two pit latrines. Many schools have been burnt either accidentally or by arsonists.
Faced with such tragedies what can parents do to ensure the safety of their children? One of the major problems facing these schools is the way dormitories are built. a dormitory accommodating more than 200 students has only one door and the windows are burglar-proofed!
If by some chance there is an emergency door it is not surprising to find it securely locked! in some schools it is the warden or matron who locks the door. All this is done in the name of preventing students from escaping at night. but do the administrators and teachers realise the danger they put the students who sleep in such buildings? This is not mere speculation. A student who had been locked in the dormitory was burnt to death at Naalya Secondary School, Namugongo Campus!
Why should the lives of these innocent students put in such danger? Surely there should be another more reasonable way of enforcing discipline. How do the teachers and Education officers feel when such a thing happens?
To crown it all, very few schools have fire extinguishers. Out of 10 boarding schools upcountry, only two might have them and yet they are essential because fire can break out any time! The Ministry of Education should make this requirement mandatory.
Most school administrators ignore them out of carelessness or because they want to maximise profits from their ‘business’. But they forget that the most important ‘capital’ is actually the students.
To make matters worse, even the administrators in the schools which have the equipment make no effort to teach their students how to use them. Where is the future of this country when school administrators cannot protect the children in their charge?
The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow and the danger is that they are being taught the wrong practices which they might emulate themselves when their time comes. What then would be the meaning of education?
The writer is a student at Makerere University