Parents concerned over school reopening amidst floods

Some parents in Busia and Narok counties say they may not release their children to schools as the parts of the counties remain flooded weeks after the rains started. 

Others are still unsure of where the children will learn as some schools remain occupied by flood IDPs.

The countdown to the schools’ reopening nears even as some flood victims ask for assistance to get their children ready for Monday.

Huruma Sports Complex in Nairobi which hosts hundreds of people displaced from their homes by the floods has tough conditions for IDPs and they are set to get dire for families with children in both primary and secondary schools.

Citizen TV came across Salome Njoki, a grandmother of several who is at her wits ends; in just under two days, schools will be re-opening but she doesn’t have hopes that her grandkids will be joining the rest in class. 

“Tuliathirika sana…hatuna uniform hatujui itakuwaje,” she said.

Other parents in the camp are facing a similar predicament. They say the floods didn’t give them a chance to save anything other than their lives.

“Hata hakuna vile ungefikiria, hata nguo, hata chochote, tulikumbukanga kama tushaenda tukaona tujiokoe kwa jirani tena mai ikatupata huko,” Sarah Ayuma said.

Another IDP Wilmina Awori added: “Maji ilikuwa inajaa, tunajaribu kutoka inakuja, najaribu niingie ndani niokee hata vitabu za watoto haikuwezekana.”

The Kenya Red Cross, managing this camp contends that the back-to-school concerns raised by the parents are genuine and need urgent attention.

“The most need currently is uniform, the majority are willing to go back but don’t have a uniform and of course, they are coming from different schools, and also the stationery they are worried even as the government resettles them back,” Florence Njambi from Kenya Red Cross stated.

Concerns about the return to school go beyond the provision of uniforms and stationery.

In Busia, the very challenge of accessing the schools and the state of the schools themselves is evident…a number of schools remain uninhabitable from the remnants of the floods that have damaged infrastructure in the learning institution…and the parents say it is not conducive for school on Monday.

“Vile hali ilivyo, tunahatarisha maisha ya watt wetu kwa sababu wanahitaji maboti ya kuwavukisha,” Johnstone Wire a resident in Budalangi said.

Another resident Raphael Obara added: “Kuna hawa watoto wadogo wa pp1 pp2, hawawezi kwenda kwa hihi mai..wakibebwa na maji tutaambia watu nini?”

IDPs currently residing at the St Peter’s School in Narok town also face uncertainty over where they will be hosted once schools reopen.

The IDPs have been occupying the classrooms, making the best of an otherwise dire situation since they were flooded out of their homes. Some of them even have pupils at the school and they don’t know what Monday holds. 

The IDPs camping at the school have been asked to vacate ahead of the school opening on Monday.

“Hatujui tukitoka hapa tutanda wapi…hata pesa zenye tulikuwa nazo zilioshwa na maji, tunaomba serikali itusaidi,” said Carolyne Salau.

Those affected in the different counties are hopeful that the help they need will come in the next 24 hours before schools reopen. They want to be resettled, and their children facilitated to join their peers in class.