When Kuya was appointed Deputy Headmaster last year, I was certain that unless I played smart, we would run into unnecessary disputes.
So, I decided to split duties between us. I took over the strategic visioning of the school, which involved long-range planning, relations with stakeholders, and fundraising, while Kuya handles operational matters such as academic performance, discipline of students and teachers, and relations with parents.
Unfortunately, Kuya performed poorly in all these areas. The KCPE performance last year was the lowest record in years, and it could have been worse had I not tried to rescue the situation at the last minute.
Parents don't like him; they actually don’t want him. Meanwhile, discipline at Mwisho wa Lami deteriorated to deplorable levels.
Over the December holidays, many parents complained about open disobedience, a lack of a sense of responsibility, and general laziness among our students.
This matter came up at Hitler's, in one of my rare visits there – you know I had better things to do at home. It all started when Rasto arrived late at Hitler's, we all wondered why. “I had to take the animals to the water; that's why I delayed,” he said. Nyayo asked him why he did that when he had grandchildren.
“Forget about those ones; they’re lost. I haven't seen them since morning,” he said resignedly. It seemed to be a common occurrence. Alphayo, Nyayo, and even Hitler complained about their children being unavailable and unhelpful.
“This habit must be coming from the school,” said Hitler. “I miss the days when the teachers were tough on our children; it made our work at home easier.” Everyone agreed that discipline in schools was at its lowest. When they said schools, they meant Mwisho wa Lami Primary.
“But how do you expect the students to be disciplined when the teachers have no discipline?” wondered Nyayo. He went ahead to give examples: “Saphire is a drunkard who is never in school, Kuya has many unresolved cases with girls, and I don’t understand how he became deputy. Look at Lena's unkempt hair; what can our girls learn from her?”
“You are very right, Nyayo,” said Rasto. “Alex has several power saws and is forever monitoring the businesses instead of being in school, while Mr Atika arrives at school at 11am and leaves before 2pm. Let me not talk about Nzomo and Sella. It is no wonder that the kids are what they are.”
“The only serious teacher in Mwisho wa Lami is Mwalimu Andrew, but now he is the HM, and not involved in the day-to-day running of the school,” said Alphayo. “Things were never like this when he was deputy; teachers were disciplined, which means the children were also disciplined.” I had promised to pay for everyone's first glass. This prompted me to pay for the second. The praises kept coming, but the patrons told me to do whatever I could to restore discipline in the school and return Mwisho wa Lami to its glory days.
Initially, I disagreed with them, but, the more I thought about it, the more I agreed with them. It was evident that Kuya had failed in his duties as Deputy Headmaster. A deputy HM is the engine of a school. It is where everything rises and falls. We had always been told whenever we went for training. Kuya has failed.
That is why I decided to take a more hands-on approach when the New Year started. We already had a bad year; we could not afford another. In fact, a second year would not be bad but annus horribilis. It was clear to me that the only way to have disciplined pupils is to have disciplined teachers. That is why I crafted clear rules around school attendance, timekeeping, dress code, preps, among other things. If teachers could get it right in these things, I was very sure the pupils would follow suit, in school and at home.
On the eve of the opening, I wrote a message to the staffroom Whatsapp group, telling everyone that we would be having a meeting at 9am the next day. To my surprise, two teachers were back, saying that Kuya had called for the first meeting on Wednesday. “Which is Which?” asked Anita. “I have already planned to take my daughter to school tomorrow.”
“School opens tomorrow, and we are all expected to be there for the meeting at 9am without fail,” I wrote back. On the WhatsApp group, Nzomo and Alex typed for long, but no message was sent.
I was in school early morning on opening day, at 6:45 am. I locked myself in the HM’s office. No teacher was in school by 7:45. The students strolled in leisurely and started moving from class to class, making noise in the name of catching up. The first teacher to arrive was Lena, her bad hair in tow.
She called two students to clean the staffroom that was dusty and then sat. It was only when I picked up a call that she realised I was around. She sprang into action and started walking from class to class.
By 9, when the staff meeting was to happen, only Kuya, Alex, and Mrs Atika had arrived. I insisted that the meeting proceeds without other teachers.
“It doesn't make sense to hold a meeting without most teachers around,” said Kuya, adding that the best day to hold the first staff meeting was Wednesday. I disagreed with him. “School is opening today; every teacher should be here. In fact, if you were a serious deputy, the first meeting would have been done last Friday so that by the time the students come, we are clear on what to do.”
Taking matters into my own hands, I called Nzomo and Sella to ask where they were. They had written to me three days earlier asking that they be allowed to report a few days later. “I sought permission from Kuya when you did not respond,” replied Nzomo. Sella also said the same. Anita said she had proceeded to take her daughter to school with Kuya’s authority.
“You cannot run the school effectively if you continue to encourage indiscipline amongst teachers,” I confronted Kuya after the staff meeting. “This is anarchy you are encouraging!”
“I am just being a humane leader who listens to my colleagues,” he said. “As a leader, you have to be understanding.”
“This is not being understating, this is condoning indiscipline,” I said. “I want all teachers to have reported by tomorrow without fail”
“Since you have decided to be both HM and deputy, I will gladly let you do it,” he said, banged the door, started his motorcycle and left in a huff. He has not been back. I have been running the school with Alex. I am looking to transfer Kuya to another station. Any HM who doesn’t have a deputy? I am ready to give you Kuya for free!
