The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) has asked the government to provide schools with armed security to ensure safety.

KESSHA chairman Fred Indimuli said that a number of students are currently out of school due to insecurity issues in a number of hostile areas across the country.

Indimuli proposed that it is high time that the government provides the school with armed security to ensure the safety of both students and their teachers.

“We are proposing that schools especially boarding school be provided with adequate security and if possible armed ones by the government. We should not assume that schools are safe with our children and that no danger can occur to them,” said Indimuli.

The KESSHA chair was speaking in Mombasa during the 46th Kenya Secondary School Heads Association Annual Delegates Conference at the Sheikh Zayed Hall in Mombasa.

The five-day conference which kicked off on Monday brings together about 10,000 secondary school heads from across the country under the theme, ‘Enhancing Effectiveness and Efficiency of Education in Kenya’.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education Ezekiel Machogu is expected to open the conference.

Indimuli said that the country was not doing well security-wise urging the government to beef up security in schools to guarantee children’s’ safety.

“If we sleep, the enemy will come in and take advantage. The government has to ensure that our children and teachers are safe while in school,” he said.

Indimuli further warned that learning risks being halted due to the failure by government to provide capitation funds.

The Chairman pointed out that capitation is among the major challenges currently facing the education sector in the country.

He called on the government to consider changing it's financing model for free secondary education which is currently spread on a 50:30:20 ratio for terms one, two, and three respectively.