The fate of over 200 students from one the top secondary schools in Naivasha hangs in the balance after the institution was closed down due to financial crisis.
Students and parents from Oserian High School have now been left between a rock and hard place after the management of Oserian Flower farm threw in the towel two weeks before the opening of schools.
Following the impasse, the parents and teachers have appealed to the Ministry of Education to come to their rescue mainly for form four students.
The farm representative George Ruken confirmed the closure, noting that harsh economic times coupled by parent’s failure to pay school fees had contributed to the closure.
He said that a new investor had already taken over the institution that for years was run by the flower farm which has since changed hands.
“We have faced harsh economic times due to the many taxes but we shall assist the students in getting the transfer forms to other schools,” he promised.
Olkaria MCA Peter Pallang’a termed the closure as a major blow to the parents who would be forced to seek new uniforms and fees for the students.
Pallang’a took issue with the Ministry of Education for failing to intervene, adding that there was no other secondary school in the area that is home to tens of flower farms.
“This will be one of the darkest festive seasons for tens of parents and students after the school was closed without any notice and it’s time we met and planned the way forward,” he said.
The MCA expressed his concern over the low wages that the flower farm workers were getting which further complicated plans of the students getting into another school.
One of the parents Esther Akinyi whose son will be joining form four next told of their shock on learning that the school had been closed without any prior warning.
“There were rumors over the pending closure but the management denied this and what we are getting is another different story,” she said.
This was echoed by another parent Kennedy Were who said that with two weeks to go, they did not know the fate of their students while calling for support from the government.
A student Faith Kwamboka said that their parents were poorly paid and could not afford to take them to other schools, a move that could lock them from seating for the national exams.
