Story highlights Some 120 secondary schools have been burned across Kenya since June

Many blame students who are protesting a crackdown on academic cheating

(CNN) A wave of arson attacks has torched about 120 secondary schools since June across Kenya, where authorities have identified a dismaying culprit: students.

The fires, which mostly target dormitories, have destroyed school supplies and personal belongings and forced thousands of students out of school. Other schools have preemptively closed out of fear of more blazes.

While arson attacks in schools are not a new phenomena in Kenya, the escalating rate of the fires has all eyes on the challenges facing Kenya's education system. The people and motives behind the blazes remain unclear, but many suspect students, citing student anger about strict new policies intended to clean up schools after a series of cheating scandals.

The fires have caused several minor injuries but no deaths, which some people say suggests that students had prior knowledge of the blazes.

Students of St. Peter's-Nyamesocho in Kisii rummage through a burned dormitory for salvageable items.

"Students have a lot of tension over the sudden change of programs. They are venting their frustration and anger through fires," said Wilson Sossion, Secretary General of the Kenya National Union of Teachers.