The Pros and Cons of Boarding Schools: Safety, Challenges, and the Reality for Vulnerable Students

Boarding schools both public and private are able to close education gaps for students from remote areas where there are no functional schools. Learners facing danger from their communities like early marriages, FGM, child soldies, are hidden in boarding school for safety. They also offer a home for young learners whose parents or parent don’t have reliable child care.

The Keen Elite School in Komarock Photo by Rahab Gakuru

Marianne Gombe talks about her life in boarding school, which she joined when she was 2 years old. “I was left in care of my grandmother after the passing of my mother at my birth and it was a challenge for her to juggle a job and caring for my siblings and I. A missionary boarding school was the best bet for my grandmother. I was treated differently from other students. I took naps during study periods, I would get snacks, and slept in the sister quarters instead of the common dormitory. The missionary sisters working at the school had to do everything for me because I was very young to take care of myself. However, this was short lived as I got very sick and had to attend a day school where my grandmother could closely monitor my health” She says.

The messaging on perfect grades in education as the only way out of poverty has a lot of parents obsessed with the idea that boarding school from a young age is a sure bet for higher grades into a university placement. However, learners who sleep in school experience the most harm ranging from death, rape, sexual harassment, and bullying in incidents of school unrest.  The Kenyan government has been accused of abandoning learners in unsafe environments throughout their studies. 

The earliest of school unrest goes as far back as 1908 in Maseno school started as a mere protest for more study time and less manual labor and went downhill from there. The most unfortunate of these incidences being the 13th July 1991, when male students of St Kizito Mixed School attacked their girls classmates in dormitory killing 19 and raping 71.  It was believed the boys attacked the girls because they had refused to join the boys in a protest against the school principal. The school, run jointly by the state and the Roman Catholic Church, had 577 pupils - 271 girls and 306 boys - aged 14 to 18. In May 1997, 26 students at Bombolulu Girls Secondary School died in a dormitory fire that was suspected to be arson. In May 2001, 67 students were killed by fire set by students at Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos. In September 2017, Moi girls, Nairobi  a 14 year old girl set a dormitory on fire while her classmates slept killing 10. She was found guilty of manslaughter in December 2021. The judge claimed the girl did not desire to kill her schoolmate, because she had tried to wake her classmate after setting her own bed on fire. She had hoped the fire would get her transferred to another school. 

       A tweet from Kenyans express their displeasure with boarding schools.

We spoke to Waruguru Shelmith who has two children in boarding school aged 12 and 16. “Having your kids in boarding school is a different kind of torture. I’m always worried about their well-being. My daughter who is in primary school begged to join boarding school in grade 7. I was very hesitant because I knew how difficult it was from my experience. It’s a lonely experience to be young in an environment with strangers from different backgrounds, poorly cooked meals, military rules, and eye hawk supervision. Now, she hates it. She has had to abide by the rules crafted to align with Catholic church mission that have nothing to do with education. She however, is grateful she can ask for a one on one study session with the teachers anytime, a privilege not many in day school don't have.” She says.

Waruguru fears were justified as her son in Nyeri Boys High School was assaulted in school in September 2024 by Form 4 students. “The students called him aside for questioning about an incident that happened during school holidays involving Form 3’s who had reported earlier in school. They then beat him and some of his classmates. When they reported the matter to the teachers, they ignored the issue, asking the students to resolve it with the prefects. The Form 4 students finding out about the report started assaulting the Form 3 students again causing them to walk out of school at night due to fear of more assault. The children slept outside the school gate with police standing guarding them. ” She says.

According to Waruguru, the situation led to 2 weeks of school closures in the third term. “What infuriates me is listening to teachers justifying the action of the abusers. They believe that Form 4 students should be forgiven because they have final exams in 2 months time. What about my son who has to go through a traumatic beating? His grades have dropped drastically throughout that term. I'm thinking of enrolling him for counseling. Some parents had to take their children to hospital from the beating. ” She adds. 

“I wanted to transfer him to a different school, but he doesn't want to miss out on the extra curriculum offered in that school. As a parent it’s scary to live in hope that the people left in charge will not ignore glaring security issues facing learners. Why can’t they implement school directives laid down by the government on assault?” Waruguru says. “I know it looks like negligence having children as young as 7 in boarding school, but a lot of parents lack a better alternative. Parents working outside Kenya and lack reliable people to care for their children send their young learners to boarding school as a form of child care. Boarding schools are scarce and better equipped in terms of resources taking students from all corners of Kenya hence the need for boarding facilities.”

A tweet from Kenyans express their displeasure with boarding schools.

In March 1999, Nyeri Boys High School in 4 prefects were locked in a room and burnt by other students. According to the July 2019, report on enquiry into the wave of students’ unrest in secondary school in Kenya Term 11, 2018 by the Departmental Committee on Education and Research, the country experienced a wave of arson 63 cases, walkouts 23 cases, sit-ins 8, and breakdown 18 in public secondary schools. The National Parents Association noted the various factors contributing to unrest like substance and drug abuse, undue strictness, sleep deprivation, lack  of co-curricular activities, long second term, unjust sharing responsibilities, resistance to transfer of teachers and school managers. Also a Canadian Elizabeth Cooper, assistant professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University, who has researched deeply on children and youth, education, violence, and inequality, with a primary focus on Kenya, since 2003 and authored a book Burning Ambition noted that students deployed arson as moral punishment for perceived injustices. A lot of the fires were set by students protesting harsh discipline, poor teaching, and corruption. Students she interviewed complained about poor food, scarce teaching materials, harsh teachers, and management that ignored their concerns. 

The Government of Kenya has over time appointed committees and published policy on resolving boarding schools unrest but until they enforcers work hand in hand with school administration to ensure policies are followed boarding schools will remain a nightmare for most learners.  A statement in December 2024, by Basic Education PS Belio Kipsang stated that schools failed to adhere to the standards prescribed in the Registration Guidelines for Basic Education Institutions (2021). The Ministry of Education ordered the closure of boarding sections in 340 public and private primary schools for failing to meet safety thresholds to host boarding learners. The schools were also directed to not open the boarding section for the academic year 2025.