The wave of school unrest sweeping across the country will have costly repercussions for learners and their families, stakeholders in education have warned.
The indiscipline is already costing learners of affected schools class time and as those arrested stare at a permanent criminal tag.
Parents of dozens of burnt schools will be forced to pay millions of shillings in punitive fines for the repair and replacement of property that their children destroyed during riots even as they struggle to pay school fees.
The managements of schools have set strict conditions for the students as report back. Key among these are fines to cover the cost of repairs.
According to the national chair of the Parents’ Association Nicholas Maiyo, 35 schools have been affected by students’ unrest so far this term.
Ministry of Education officials assess the damage caused fire that razed a dormitory at Amabuko Mixed Secondary School in Kisii on November 3, 2021. The night inferno destroyed property of unknown value with at least 50 students affected.
Photo credit: Ondari Ogega | Nation Media Group
A number of them have already been closed and learners sent home, especially where school buildings have been torched and other property vandalised.
Latest institutions to catch the fiery wave include academic giant Maranda High School in Siaya County, which was closed indefinitely yesterday.
At Nyang'ori Boys in Vihiga County, 17 students attempted to burn down their dormitory in the small hours of Monday and staring at a possible expulsion, the board said.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha last week stressed that the government will not pay for the damage while blaming parents for failure to instill discipline in their children.
“If we catch those who are bold enough to torch a building, their parents will rebuild that building. The government will not pay a penny. Their parents shall build them, full stop!” Prof Magoha said.
No one was injured in the morning fire at Kakamega School.
Photo credit: Isaac Wale | Nation Media Group
Yesterday, the CS attributed the indiscipline to the privileges the 2010 constitution grants children.
He has in the past attracted condemnation and praise in equal measure for calling for a return to corporal punishment.
"We shall not handle children with kid gloves. Anybody who is caught planning to burn a school building will not go to any other public school in this country," he said at Machakos School.
“You will go back and we shall ensure that your parents foot the cost of repairing the school. Afterwards we shall charge you.”
Chairman of Kenya Secondary School Heads Association Kahi Indimuli, who is also the principal of Machakos School, had recommended that teachers should be empowered to punish unruly students.
Apart from paying for the damage to school property, some parents will also have to shop for new personal effects their children lost in the school fires.
Curiously, most of the fires have targeted dormitories. Over the weekend, more school property was lost when dormitories at Kakamega School and Mbaikini Boys High School in Machakos County were set on fire.
The fire broke out on Friday morning.
Photo credit: Derick Luvega | Nation Media Group
At Buru Buru Girls Secondary School, Nairobi, Form 3 and 4 learners reopened yesterday following a fire incident on October 31. Form Ones and Twos will go back today (Tuesday).
Each learner will be expected to pay Sh1,500 on top of clearing any fees arrears they might have.
With a population of more than 1,400 learners, this will total more than Sh2.1 million although the fire destroyed only one cubicle.
“Body sprays, sanitisers, spirits and any form of jewellery and beadwork are strictly prohibited. Cars will not be allowed into the compound,” a letter by the management to parents reads.
While Mr Maiyo agreed that parents should meet the cost of repairs, he alleged that some principals take advantage to over-charge parents and that the money is never audited.
“The boards of management always set the figure. What parents are questioning are the valuers who determine the cost of the damage,” he told Nation.
“You may find that the damage caused is Sh3 million but a school collects Sh9 million. The government should streamline the process and check usage of money collected from parents.”
The association, he said, carried out investigations into the unrest and identified high handedness, fatigue, disregard for learners’ views, ineffective guidance and counselling programmes as the most cited grievances.
He added that failure by school administration to detect and deter crime before it occurs was also a factor. Most Kenyan schools, for instance, lack fire detectors in dorms, offices, libraries, labs and classrooms.
A principal who requested not to be named said that many innocent learners will suffer although they were not involved in the destruction.
“On average, only about three to seven students plan to burn a dormitory. When they do so, it causes chaos which acts as a trigger to incite others to cause disorder, making it appear like the whole school was on strike. Most of the students are innocent but they will all pay the same amount,” he said.
He added that many principals are spending sleepless nights since the school fires risk learners’ lives and also the careers of the teachers.
“We’ve seen in the past principals interdicted and even arrested following serious cases of indiscipline in the schools. We're not sitting pretty.”
Apart from paying for damages, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in January announced that it would collect and store information on students involved in criminal conduct, potentially ruining their chances of employment.
“Let each student be informed that it (criminal past) will automatically be reflected on the police clearance certificate when such a student will apply for one. This will be a permanent criminal mark that will bar many students from achieving their goals, as no employer of worth will dare employ such characters,” the DCI said.
The school has had five cases of arson in just three months in what has been blamed on bad blood between the administration, BoM and the local community.
The Nation understands that the board of management of Chavakali High School in Vihiga County will meet tomorrow to decide on how it will be reopened.
It was closed after learners caused massive destruction to buildings and also vandalised vehicles, some belonging to teachers.
Kakamega School learners should also brave themselves to pay hefty fines if photographs and videos of their dormitory on fire are anything to go by.
The Education ministry last week announced that schools will break for half-term between November 19 and 23, 2021 following a petition by the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association.
The intention is to ease pressure on learners caused by the crash programme that began in January to make up for time lost last year.
Additional reporting by Pius Maundu, Rushdie Oudia and Derrick Luvega.
