A government audit has uncovered worrying lapses in fire preparedness across secondary schools, showing that many learning institutions remain exposed to potential disasters years after safety weaknesses were first flagged.
The performance review by the Auditor General, carried out six years ago, found that schools lacked basic systems, equipment and structures needed to respond to fire emergencies, despite repeated safety guidelines from the education authorities.
The audit focused on 42 secondary schools drawn from Machakos, Siaya, Uasin Gishu, Kajiado and Kiambu counties, selected due to reported fire outbreaks between 2015 and 2019.
“In all the 42 schools visited, there was inadequate fire safety preparedness,” reads the report.
The report further notes that implementation of fire safety measures introduced by the Ministry of Education has faced multiple setbacks, including weak infrastructure, limited training and poor support systems in schools.
“The audit revealed that implementation of fire safety measures put in place by the Ministry of Education has faced a number of challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, limited training on fire safety preparedness, insufficient guidance and counselling in the schools.”
Schools are required under the safety manual to install fire extinguishers, fire blankets and alarms, and to display evacuation maps at key points including entrances, exits, classrooms and offices to guide movement during emergencies.
However, inspectors found that these requirements were largely ignored or poorly implemented.
“Physical verification in the 42 schools sampled indicated that none of the schools had posted an evacuation map as required,” reads the audit report.
While 40 schools had fire extinguishers placed in various buildings, most were concentrated in administration blocks, leaving other critical areas less protected. Halls recorded the lowest coverage.
Only a handful of schools had additional safety tools, with five having fire blankets in laboratories and six in kitchens. Fire alarm systems were also rare, with only five schools fitted in administration blocks, six in dormitories and one in a kitchen.
“The audit revealed that schools were not able to acquire all the required fire fighting equipment and tools due to lack of a functional sub-committee to inform the school management on the need of prioritising fire safety preparedness activities in schools,” reads the report.
In 2019, the Ministry of Education also instructed schools not to use maintenance and improvement funds to purchase fire fighting equipment, a directive that may have further limited preparedness efforts.
Structural safety concerns were also highlighted, with inspectors warning that some school buildings could worsen evacuation during emergencies.
Section 6.2 of the safety manual requires doors in classrooms and dormitories to open outwards for easier evacuation. However, the audit found that 22 of the sampled schools had classroom doors opening inwards, while five dormitories had similar issues.
“In the event of fire, students are likely to lock themselves from the inside of the buildings as they struggle to get out given the population in the schools,” it says.
The report also flagged missing exits and narrow passageways in some dormitories, warning that poor design could delay evacuation and increase the risk of harm.
“In addition, some schools did not have doors at each end of the dormitory or clearly labelled emergency exits at the middle with doorways of the recommended five feet wide for ease of escape in the event of a fire. This is likely to hinder evacuation in the event of fire leading to injuries and loss of lives,” the report reads further.