A dramatic, inexplicable tragedy killed 14 primary school pupils in the town of Kakamega in northern Kenya on Monday afternoon, leaving another 40 injured or bruised.
An absurd accident, the contours of which are now being traced hour after hour, as the building has neither collapsed nor suffered a fire or any imminent danger or alarm.
According to the local media that interviewed pupils and relatives, the origin of the accident is said to be due to a crowd formed on the stairs of the building, starting from the third floor, during the exit for the end of the lessons. Seeing the boys running down the stairs in a noisy and disorderly manner, a teacher would have come out of a classroom wielding a stick and threatening punishment. This would cause the pupils to run away and some would stumble, causing ruinous falls and trampling, while other children would fall directly into the stairwell.
The local police, who arrived on the scene in the evening, are still investigating and will soon provide an official version of the facts, while incredulous parents have broken out in protest, while many relatives have had to transport their children to hospital.
A drama that unfortunately brings back to the present day two major problems in education: the oppressive attitude of teachers (in Kenya corporal punishment such as the use of chopsticks is still allowed) and the very high number of pupils in the same school building. In Kakamega, for example, there are more than 3,000 students attending.