Gov't task force on school unrest to be gazetted within two weeks - CS Ogamba

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has confirmed that the special task force established to investigate the rising wave of school unrest across the country will be gazetted within the next two weeks.

Ogamba said the multi-stakeholder team, which will, for the first time, include students and parents, will traverse the country collecting views and recommendations before submitting its report within 90 days.

The CS also warned that those found to have masterminded incidents of school unrest will face the full force of the law. 

Ogamba spoke in Nyeri County on Thursday after the launch of Kihate School in Mukurwe-ini following its rehabilitation by the M-Pesa Foundation.

While speaking at the event, Ogamba confirmed that investigations into the chaos that erupted at Nyabisase Secondary School in Bobasi on Monday have been intensified.

What began as a protest over the posting of a new principal quickly escalated into violent confrontations between students and teachers, with angry students engaging in stone-throwing and setting a school dormitory ablaze in broad daylight.

The incident adds to a growing list of school unrest cases reported across the country, coming just weeks after a tragic fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, claimed the lives of 16 students.

CS Ogamba announced that the government is setting up a special task force to investigate the concerning wave of school unrest in the country.

This is not the first time the government has turned to a task force to address what is increasingly becoming a recurring challenge in Kenyan schools.

The country has witnessed several tragic incidents over the years, including the 2001 Kyanguli Secondary School fire in Machakos County, where more than 60 students lost their lives in what remains Kenya's deadliest school fire.

In 2012, another tragedy struck at Asumbi Girls Primary School in Homa Bay County, where eight pupils were killed in a fire blamed on an electrical fault.

In 2016, more than 100 schools were hit by arson attacks as students protested shortened holidays and restrictions on parental visits.

In September 2024, 21 boys aged between 10 and 14 burned to death at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County.

The school was forced to close its boarding facilities after an official investigation revealed the dormitory was overcrowded and that exit doors were dangerously narrow, slowing evacuation.

From the 2008 School Safety Standards Manual to the 2016 Omolo Task Force formed after a wave of school unrest and arson attacks, and the 2020 Auditor-General's report, which found many schools ill-prepared for fire emergencies, education stakeholders insist the country does not need another task force whose recommendations end up gathering dust on government shelves.

The ministry attributed the unrest to a range of factors, including weak school leadership, examination pressure, poor boarding conditions, drug and alcohol abuse, demanding school routines, peer influence, copycat behaviour, and demands by some students for early school closure.