Closed: 348 Primary Boarding Schools Fail To Meet Standards

In a circular dated November 27, 2024, the Principal Secretary (PS), State Department for Basic Education in the Ministry of Education Belio Kipsang, revealed that 348 primary schools had not met the standards of boarding schools and hence ordered their immediate closure.  In the circular, the PS stated that the schools had not met the safety standards in an extensive research conducted between September and October 2024. 

"An assessment exercise to establish the status of compliance with safety standards for all boarding primary schools in the country was carried out in the months of September and October 2024," read the statement. 

The Ministry has ordered the Regional, County and Sub-county directors of education to ensure the boarding section in these primary schools remains closed as they contravene the safety standards in the 2008 manual for schools. 

"The assessment established that some institutions grossly contravened the provisions of the Safety Standards Manual for Schools in Kenya (2008). Further, they did not adhere to the standards as prescribed in the Registration Guidelines for Basic Education Institutions (2021). A total of Three Hundred and Forty-Eight (348) schools of those assessed were consequently not approved to host boarding learners," the statement further read.

Additionally, Nairobi led with 40 schools, followed by Kericho with 26, Uasin Gishu with 19, Nandi with 15, and Kiambu and Kisii with 13 each. 

This comes after the Hillside Endarasha academy fire tragedy that saw the death of 21 young boys aged between 9 to 14 years died, as their dormitory went a blaze during the night. This prompted the government to take action to ensure parents their children's safety while at school, even as the government released the school calendar of 2025.