Boarding schools should be eliminated - ODM acting SG Omanyo

The Busia County Women Representative opined that if only parents were able to balance work and family, their children would be in day schools.

“The children I met in Kenyatta Hospital could be my daughters because some of us who are very busy we are taking children to boarding not because we like. If we were able to juggle work and taking care of the children we would be with our children, even, they would have been in day school,” she asserted.

Omanyo was responding to the rising cases of arson attacks that have targeted boarding schools lately. 

These occurrences have led to the closure of several institutions across the country. 

Tragically, an arson at Utumishi Girls Academy Senior School in Gilgil, Nakuru County, on May 28, 2026, claimed the lives of 16 students and left 79 others injured.

Omanyo believes that day schools may prevent arson attacks that might arise in boarding institutions.

According to reports, several institutions have already sent their learners home, including Nairobi School, Asumbi Girls and Lenana School, citing rising tensions among students before their scheduled holiday.