In recent years it has become increasingly common for schools in Kenya to offer students tuition during school holidays. Kenya’s education minister Mutula Kilonzo recently reacted by outlawing holiday tuition, arguing that children should be free to enjoy their holidays, and they should not be the ones to bear the consequences of lack of organisation and inefficiencies on the part of teachers and schools in covering the curriculum in a timely manner.
A tragic event last week at Asumbi Girls’ Boarding School has heightened the debate. A dormitory fire at the school on Wednesday night resulted in the deaths of 8 girls. The dormitory was locked from the outside, so that the girls were unable to escape. The event happened during the school holiday period, and the 8 girls were among 85 students who were undergoing holiday tuition in contravention of the directive of the education minister.
The arguments over the merits of holiday tuition are difficult to reconcile. Kenya’s school term timetable provides students with a generous 14 weeks of school holidays, four of the remaining 34 weeks are often taken up with exams in October, and students often miss up to another 4 weeks of school during January. There is a high degree of stress associated with final exams in October, so many students are happy to sacrifice of up to 3 weeks of holidays in August in the hope of getting better final results.