MOMBASA, Kenya, Dec 8 – At least 1,000 students were sent home on Wednesday after Mama Ngina Girls’ Secondary School in Mombasa was shut indefinitely following an arson attempt.
The school, Mombasa only girls’ national school, was shut indefinitely as education and security officials convened an emergency meeting to assess the matter after a fire in one of blocks was contained.
The threat was the third failed attempt to burn the school within a span of two weeks.
Mombasa County Education Director Peter Magiri said the decision to send students home was to avert any form of unrest that would lead to injuries.
“We have decided to release the girls to go home due to the tension that is here after the failed attempt to burn a store in the ablution block. The decision was made because of the security of the girls,” he said.
Parents accused the school management of downplaying previous threats saying a section of students had reported the matter.
Magiri however blamed a section of the parents for causing anxiety in school by making frequent calls to the management inquiring about their children.
“A lot of parents have been calling asking about unconfirmed incidents that might have happened at school. This has caused a lot of anxiety among the students,” said Magiri.
Parents who spoke to the press on Wednesday morning faulted the school’s failure to communicate to them about the welfare of the children.
Amadi Hassan said he was still unaware of the happenings on Wednesday morning because the school’s management kept mum over the incident.
“My daughter is said to have fainted during the incident, but I have not received any clear information of what really happened. We need clarity over this issue,” he said.
Amina Bakari said she got the information about the incident from a third party, and when she tried to reach out to the school management, they did not respond.
“The school management is the custodian of our children, so they need to communicate whenever there is a problem,” she said.
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