Principal, matron of city school deny role in pupil’s death
Administrators of a city school on Wednesday refused to take responsibility for the death of a student who had allegedly contracted meningitis at the school and succumbed to the illness in March 2016 after a long hospitalisation.
The principal and the matron in charge of the dorm where Emily Chelangat fell ill said she was in good health when she left Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School in South B before she died.
The principal, board chairman, deputy principal and matron of the school were questioned for more than two hours by the Parliamentary Committee on Education.
School principal Jane Kirunja confirmed that Emily was a student from 2013 until April 8, 2015 when the school closed at the end of first term.
She said she was not aware that Emily was sick as alleged; a position that the school matron also maintained.
Members of the committee were surprised by the revelation by the matron that she was only a housekeeper and not a trained nurse, though she administered general First Aid and painkillers if a student reported being ill.
She said the school had lost two girls to meningitis. Another student died during the 2015 second-term mid-term break, when Emily was in hospital.
