High Court bars Hillside Endarasha Academy from reopening boarding section

The High Court in Nyeri has ordered Hillside Endarasha Academy School to close the boarding facilities over safety concerns just two days after the institution reopened on Wednesday.

The school had been closed for more than a month following the fire tragedy that took the lives of 21 boys. 

The school has since tried to pick up the pieces and restore some semblance of normalcy and was preparing to resume learning for the boarding institution.

The school, with a population of about 800 pupils, reopened on Wednesday, admitting both day and boarding pupils.

But the school’s administration will now have to re-strategize about its boarding population. Before the fire, more than 300 pupils were boarders. Now, 98 girls and 97 boys will have to find a way to continue with their studies away from the boarding sector.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Elimu Bora Working Group moved the courts last week, seeking to have the school compelled to conduct a comprehensive inspection with safety guidelines and to offer and pay for psychosocial support for pupils and parents.

The human rights organizations also accused the school’s management of seeking to hastily reopen without due consideration for the learners' safety.

On Friday, Nyeri High Court Justice Dennis Kizito granted the petitioners' prayers and prohibited the reopening of the school’s boarding section.

In his ruling, the judge stated that schools were set to close this month, and therefore he could not bar the reopening of the school.

However, he was satisfied that there existed a threat to the safety and health of the minors and consequently forbade the reopening of boarding facilities and any form of accommodation of the children within the school pending the hearing and determination of the case.

The school’s administration will now have to find ways of handling the close to 200 pupils who are boarders in the institution, even as some of them prepare for the KPSEA assessment later in the month.