Chaos at Tengecha Boys as Dormitory Burnt, Villagers Block Raid on Girls’ School
Trouble erupted at Tengecha Boys High School in Bureti Constituency last night after students went on strike and torched a dormitory and attempted to storm Tengecha Girls High School.
The strike, part of a worrying trend of unrest in Kericho schools, saw one of the boys’ dormitories go up in flames around 10:00 pm. Eyewitnesses said the fire spread fast and students were running for their lives as villagers and police rushed to salvage their belongings.
But what could have been a bigger crisis was averted when villagers, armed with clubs and sticks, physically blocked the rowdy boys from invading the girls’ school. Backed by police officers led by Acting Litein OCPD David Koech, the locals contained the strike.
Mobile phone footage from the chaotic night showed villagers dragging mattresses and boxes from the burning dormitory, while others formed a human barricade to keep the students within the compound. At one point, angry residents were pushing back defiant learners as stones flew in retaliation.
This comes just hours after AIC Litein Girls Secondary School was closed due to indiscipline and two days after Litein Boys High School made headlines when striking students vandalized property, cooked in the principal’s kitchen and even rode a school cow around the compound.
The underlying cause of the tensions are said to be student frustrations over administrative decisions. At Litein Boys, the chaos was reportedly triggered by resistance to sitting for the Apex Examination, a joint countywide test.
With dormitories now burnt and schools being closed one after another, questions are being asked about discipline, governance and the growing violence of student protests in Kericho County.
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Chaos at Tengecha Boys as Dormitory Burnt, Villagers Block Raid on Girls’ School