A primary school in Voi sub-county has been closed indefinitely after parents withdrew their children citing dangers posed by stray elephants roaming the region.
Gideon Mosi Primary School complained that it was too risky to allow their children to go to school while herds of marauding jumbos were lurking in bushes.
They added they had collectively decided to withdraw the pupils stating that education was not comparable to human life.
Speaking on Monday, Mr. Gibson Mwajugumba, a parent at the school, said they withdrew their children Friday, last week.
He added that hundreds of elephants had been crisscrossing the region as 8.00 AM, when the pupils were reporting to school.
Mwajugumba, whose five children are already at home, stated that over 100 parents unanimously agreed to bar their 250 children from attending classes.
He explained that during normal days, lessons were always poorly covered as children reported to school at 9.00 A.M and left 3.00 P.M to avoid encountering the jumbos along the way.
Ms. Ruth Tole, a parent, revealed that parents had formed security groups to be escorting their children to school in the morning and in the evening. Pupils, especially in lower classes, were forbidden to walk home alone.
She appealed to government to drive the elephants back to Tsavo National Park.
When KNA toured the school on Monday, it was deserted with padlocks on most classroom doors. There were several elephants’ droppings along the fence. Later, in the evening, parents were called for an emergency meeting to plan how the crisis can be handled.
While addressing the parents, Voi Education Boss Kennedy Machora said that it was unfortunate that elephants had wreaked havoc at the school. He said that Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) should have controlled the menace.
He claimed that KWS lacked adequate rangers to handle the situation, adding, “We need hundreds of rangers to do this work. The handful KWS personnel who are assigned to the task cannot accomplish much,” he said.
Machora pledged to conduct KWS top brass in the region to urgently intervene and rescue the school from total collapse. The parents demanded KWS provides the children with transport and protection during the day.
Tsavo Conservancy assistant director, Julius Cheptei, declined to comment and referred KNA to the Director General or KWS spokesperson, Paul Gathitu. The duo could not be reached on phone.
