NAIROBI, Kenya — Lenana School, one of Kenya’s most prestigious national schools, has been indefinitely closed after students broke into unrest during evening prep sessions on Monday night, June 1, the latest in a rapidly growing wave of school safety incidents gripping the country.
The school’s Board of Management and administration acted swiftly, sending urgent messages to parents directing them to collect their sons from the Nairobi institution beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday.
“Following the restlessness and disturbance experienced during preps in the school last night, the Board of Management and the school administration have resolved to temporarily release all students to allow for restoration of normalcy and a comprehensive assessment of the situation,” the school’s notice read in part.
“You are therefore requested to pick your son from the school at 8:00 a.m. today. Kindly ensure that all students leave the school compound accompanied by a parent, guardian, or an authorized representative,” the notice added.
The administration has not disclosed what triggered the unrest, stating only that further communication regarding students’ return date would follow. Parents have been asked to await official guidance before sending their children back.
The closure arrives at a deeply unsettling moment for Kenya’s education sector. Less than a week ago, a fire tore through a dormitory at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, killing 16 students and injuring 74 others — a tragedy that shook the nation and forced emergency government action. Seven students captured on CCTV starting the fire were scheduled to appear before the Naivasha Law Courts on Tuesday.
In the days since, schools have continued making alarming headlines. A fire broke out at Sameta Boys High School in Kisii County, destroying a dormitory — though no lives were lost. St. Joseph’s Seminary Senior School in Molo and St. Paul Githakwa Secondary School in Nyeri reported separate fire incidents over the same weekend. Early Tuesday morning, another fire broke out at Tarakwa High School in Bomet County, with the Kenya Red Cross confirming no casualties after deploying emergency response teams.
The government has responded with urgency. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen ordered all boarding schools to install CCTV cameras in key areas of their premises. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, meanwhile, ordered a fresh round of safety inspections across all boarding schools nationwide, to be completed within ten days, with strict action promised against administrators found to be endangering students.
Education experts say the pattern of unrest points to deeper, systemic failures — unresolved student grievances, strained communication between learners and school administrators, and disciplinary systems that often push frustrations underground until they erupt.
Kenya’s schools are facing a reckoning, and for parents across the country, every notification from a school is now met with dread.
