Failure to comply with safety standards, collapse of guidance and counselling programmes and increased permissiveness by society are some of the top reasons stakeholders in education have blamed for the perennial unrest in schools that has caused massive loss of property.
The reasons given for current disturbances and students’ grievances are not entirely new but have not been fixed despite having been flagged in the past.
Whereas exam phobia has been associated with students’ unrest in the past, candidates will sit their national examination in March and April next year.
The only new factor is the congestion in schools, which has been witnessed since the government introduced the 100 percent transition from primary schools but failed to expand the infrastructure.
According to the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association and the Kenya Union for Post-Primary Education Teachers, the congestion has made it harder for teachers to enforce discipline amid stiff competition for resources.
However, the principal secretary for Basic Education Julius Jwan sees it as bigger societal problem.
“The student unrest could be symptomatic of challenges in and out the school system. Education is not doomed but we must re-examine the place of boarding schools. The public is also contributing to learners’ behaviour. How are students expected to resolve issues amicably when they see adults resorting to violence?” he said in response to a Nation reader’s question.
Reports on previous investigations into school unrest continue to gather dust on shelves, yet the incidents appear to follow a predictable pattern.
Some of the recommendations are contained in the Report of the Task Force on Student Discipline and Unrest in Secondary Schools (2001) that was chaired by then Director of Education Naomy Wangai.
The latest is the Report on the Inquiry into the Wave of Students’ Unrest in Secondary Schools in Kenya in Term II, 2018.
The document was prepared by the Education and Research Committee of the National Assembly that was chaired by Julius Melly.
According to the parliamentary report that was tabled in 2019, causes of students’ indiscipline include limited professional guidance and counselling in schools, increased permissiveness and a laisseiz-faire approach in the society, failure to address indiscipline among transferred learners, exam stress, promises of exam leakage and a long second term.
The committee also identified lack of communication between parents, teachers and learners, over strictness at home and school, and lack of proper training of school managers.
The committee recommended that every school establish mentorship programmes and strengthen guidance and counselling.
The committee further recommended that the National Intelligence Service take an active role in gathering intelligence from schools on students’ activities.
But student safety remains a thorny issues in schools. According to Ministry of Education Safety Standards Manual for Schools (2008), the spacing between beds should be at least 1.2 metres while corridors space should be not less than two metres.
The manual also recommended that dormitory doors should be at least 5 feet wide and should open outward. Further, each dormitory should have doors at each end and an additional emergency exit at the middle.
“Dormitory windows must be without grills and should be easy to open outwards,” reads the manual.
The guide report further states that teachers should do regular spot checks every day before learners go to bed.
Kuppet Nairobi branch secretary Moses Mbora blamed the 100 per cent transition policy for the delinquency, saying it resulted in congested schools.
“Dormitories and classrooms are congested. Schools do not have enough toilets and other services are poor and this has caused depression in students,” he said.
The crash curriculum, he added, has caused some teachers to teach more than the eight recommended lessons as they rush to complete the syllabus.
“Some schools start classes as early as 6am while others are teaching during night preps. This kind of teaching plan leaves children without any free time to rest. Some schools also administer examinations in the morning hours and at night causing depression in the learners,” said Mr Mbora.
He called on the Ministry of Education to restore co-curricular activities to enable students release the negative energy.
“The Ministry of Health says children cannot engage in co-curricular activities because it will aid the spread of Covid-19 in schools yet the same children are crowded in classrooms and in dormitories,” said Mr Mbora who also sits on the Nairobi Education Board.
Mr Mbora also called on parents to top pampering their children and instead instill values and discipline.
He also blamed the indiscipline in schools to the lack of role models in the society and among leaders especially the political leaders.
“Let the entire public be a role model, the level of moral decay in our society is wanting and leaders should lead by example,” said Mr Mbora.
Some principals who spoke to the Nation said incidents of fire in schools should be properly investigated as some could have been caused by malicious people in the schools boards of management.
The principals said managements of many schools have installed CCTV cameras in the dormitories, kitchens and administration blocks to monitor the movement of students.
“Whereas we have some undisciplined students, the incidents of school fires need to be keenly investigated,” said a principal from Makueni County.
Another principal said non-teaching staff and teachers should be questioned as some are complicit in the burning schools.
Further, the principals said students at times resort to anarchy while demanding for things which they feel the school is not providing.
They said some of the students involved in such activities lack moral values as some parents do not give proper guidance to their children.
On Tuesday, Dr Jwan directed principals convene meetings of their boards of management to discuss students’ discipline and share resolutions with the County Education Boards for action.
The boards, he said, should work closely with officers from the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government to ensure adequate security is provided to schools.
“Ensure that all students involved in any form of indiscipline are not allowed to transfer to any other school. Therefore, no school should admit a student who has not been released formally by the previous school,” said Dr Jwan.
The PS has also warned that the ministry will not meet the cost of reconstructing destroyed schools arising from acts of arson.
