Is it just me or is there a whole lot of unrest in secondary schools from the erstwhile Central Province? The spectacle of Form One and Form Two students being arraigned in court to answer charges of murder cannot be a comfortable one for anyone. How is it that children - for that is what they are - can conspire to set their dormitories alight with their compatriots sleeping inside? It simply does not compute.
I remember when I was a foundling in Form Three when we heard that a principal was being transferred from the poorly performing Mumbuni High School to our beloved Machakos School. Not many were amused, especially when allegations had been made that his particular management style had resulted in student unrest and low scores come the KCSE. But, it was the parents of students from Machakos Town who encouraged us to march to the District Education Officer's office to voice our displeasure with the turn of events regarding the transfer. That the transfer came to pass is neither here nor there, for on the week he set foot in Machakos School, the students were further encouraged to resist his presence. This led to the destruction of school property and the armed presence of scores of policemen. The school was eventually shut down for two weeks while tempers cooled down. It is a miracle that we managed to complete our Form Four syllabus and, for many of us, successfully sit for the KCSE exams.
I wonder if this is the scenario that is playing out in Central Kenya. Are parents and other adults behind the incidences of arson that have been traced back to children learning in these schools? If this is the case, then all the disaster management programmes in the world will not reverse the trend of school-burning that seems to be sweeping this region. Perhaps the political shadow-boxing that is taking place in Central Kenya is linked to the wave of arson attacks in schools that have left at least two students dead, dozens seriously injured, and at least 57 arraigned in court for criminal offences.
When students set fire to the dormitories of Upper Hill Secondary School in Nairobi some time in 2008, it was seen as an aberration at that time. The Minister for Education, Prof. Sam Ongeri, promised to institute reforms in the management of schools with the aim of eliminating student unrest and managing disaster if it ever struck again. It is not unfair to say that he has failed spectacularly in that goal. Why he is still serving in President Kibaki's cabinet remains a mystery that can only be explained by 'political' tea-leaf reading. Has anyone even considered the psychological toll that KCSE candidates are facing when their fellow-students violently disrupt their sitting of national examinations? Or the fear with which teachers are facing their students on a day to day basis?
There are those among us who have quickly jumped on the 'it-is-devil-worship' bandwagon, refusing to admit that in the management of our schools, just as in the management of other national institutions, Kenyans will blame anyone other themselves for the sorry state of affairs. In which secondary school are regular Parents-Teachers Meetings held? Which parent takes time to interview his son's or daughter's teachers to better understand the environment in which their progeny is studying? It is time to admit that parents take a very hands off approach to the management of the schools where their children live and study. It is not necessarily a bad thing that parents are busy looking for resources with which to support their children's educations, but it is bad that nearly all of them have taken this bread-winning excuse to such levels that they do not set aside adequate time to visit with their children or their teachers. More often than not, Endarasha-type disasters catch parents off-guard and they are loath to admit that they are part of the problem.
We keep repeating the mantra that children are the future, yet we seem to have neglected an important facet of the life-changing aspects of secondary school education. Here you have a group of teenagers without the requisite emotional maturity to appreciate that their actions have serious consequences. Parents and teachers, indeed the entire school management infrastructure, must take steps to revive the link that existed between parents and those in whom they entrusted their children's safety and education.
It is time that all schools scheduled monthly Parent-Teachers conferences, in order to track any and all developments taking place in the school and its environs. In these conferences, they should be able to address the issues that have an impact on the lives of heir charges and take steps to ensure that where there are misunderstandings between the student bodies and the school managements, they are addressed quickly and effectively lest they balloon into Endarasha-style 'murders'. If we do not heed to this call, the numbers of children charged with arson and murder can only grow. And then we will truly be in trouble. After all, it is these 'murderers' and 'arsonists' who will form the next generation of leaders.
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