The first batch of students, Form Four learners, reported back accompanied back by their parents.
By 2pm, 400 Form Four learners had reported back to school.
At the same time, Western Region Director of Education Jared Obiero led a team of government officials in an inspection of facilities at the institution. The focal point for the officials was the water supply to the school, which was linked to the outbreak of a disease that left three students and a teacher dead, and over 200 learners admitted to hospital.
But on Monday, there was a glimmer of hope as parents who had accompanied their children were taken through the changes put in place to ensure the safety of the learners.
Mr Obiero said: “We are confident that the measures that have been put in place will restore confidence in our parents to bring back all the learners to school. The Form Four students have lost more than two weeks and need to settle down and recover the lost time while preparing for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam at the end of the year.”
A nurse has also been posted at the school to attend to emergencies relating to students taken ill before they are referred to nearby hospitals for treatment.
Chaos erupted after parents discussing the school’s reopening demanded the destruction of maize at the institution, which was suspected to be contaminated.
On April 15, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu had ordered the destruction of the maize to prevent another tragedy.
New food suppliers
Last month, a postmortem examination of the three learners and their teacher indicated they had succumbed to multiple organ failures linked to food poisoning and water contamination.
The school has also cancelled all food supplier tenders and picked three interim suppliers who have been prequalified to supply food items to other schools.
Mukumu Girls’ was closed on April 3, following the outbreak, and the Education Ministry later transferred the chief principal, Fridah Ndolo, and replaced her with Shikoti Girls’ Secondary School principal, Sr Jane Mmbone, and disbanded its board of management.
Water supply
The Ministry of Water through the Lake Victoria North Water Works and Development Agency (LVNWWDA) is supplying water to the school from the Tindinyo water treatment works.
Mr Ibrahim Oluoch, the manager in charge of Planning and Strategy at LVNWWDA said water supply from the two boreholes at the school had been discontinued.
“The boreholes will have to be flushed and chlorinated before the school can resume pumping water to the nine storage tanks for supply to the hostels,” said Mr Oluoch.
An additional borehole that is being drilled at the school at a cost of Sh6 million will produce 16 cubic litres per hour. The water will then be pumped to the storage tanks after testing.
Technical teams from LVNWWDA were busy reworking the water supply infrastructure at the school from the main storage tank to the hotels to cut out possible contamination.
The water supply from the stream which was then pumped to the tank and supplied to the school has been discontinued to avoid contamination of the water in the main storage tank.
Sr Aqminatta Lumili, diocesan Health Coordinator Kakamega Catholic Diocese, said all students reporting back were being taken through a counselling session to help them settle down and resume learning after the outbreak of the disease which had disrupted their studies.
“We are engaging parents and the learners to tell us whether the students have other conditions which could affect their health, including diabetes and allergies so that they can be attended to during emergencies,” said Sr Lumili.
The school dining hall, kitchen and store have been painted and renovated to improve hygienic conditions in the facilities.
