There has been a recent rise in violence in Kenyan schools - with a number of schools closed down because of students gone on the rampage. The politicians spearheaded by the Minister of Education Prof Ongeri is calling for expelling the ring leaders and re-introducing corporal punishment. But I would personally attest that both these measures will be deficient in the long run.
The students are clearly taking their cues from a society that deals with its vengences the same way - Violence. This was clearly manifested in the post election debacle. This mirrors what the Kenyan society has degenerated to. It is what I would like to call a 'mta-do' soceity ( The Kenyan Lingo of what can you do about it ? - albeit sarcastically said).Just to give a handful of examples :
Kenya is a country where we have a president who is a practicing catholic and has a publicly known mistress
A country where we have a Prime minister who has changed political parties a thousand times
A country where the Attorney General has claimed innocence or lack of knowledge in countless cases of graft
A country where the exams results were canceled and messed up with and there were no consequences for those in charge at the exam council
A country where the Ministry of Justice cannot deal with the post - election violence in a manner that is seen to be impartial
A country where the Chief Justice swore in a disputed president on national television
A country where the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya walks free after overseeing a flawed election
I could go on forever - I think my point is made. Whether the Government wants to claim that they are on drugs.There is a serious lack of honesty in the leadership of the country and therefore this is what the students are simply reflecting.
The violence that they are meting out is as a result of Kenyan society's failure to find ways of conflict resolution that are perceived as just for all the parties involved .I bet no one has sat down with those students and investigated what they really want or what TRULY their problem is. We have simply become a society where the rules are for a certain class of people and not for everyone in an Orwellian fashion.
Violence comes from the verb to violate which means to break, infringe, or transgress (a law, rule, agreement, promise, instructions, etc. and this is exactly the trend that the leaders as well as parents, teachers and the rest of Kenyan society have set for our youth. Why would we expect them to behave differently ?I recommend that a starting point would be to change the top down approach that is used in our schools and revert ot one of constructive engagement. The teachers should sit down with the students in a round table format and discuss what their grievances are and seek solutions together. since generated by both parties these solutions will be co-owned and burning issues averted.But as long as we deal with the students in the way we have we will keep getting the results that we are getting.
Hard line stands such as the reintroduction of caning / expulsion / arraigning them in court will only lead to more and more strikes and nothing resolved in the long run
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Children do not just decide to burn schools for no reason. There is a problem with Education system and the children are mearly protesting the way they saw thier parents do. The govt rather than engage in dialogue to find out where the problem lies prefers to re-introduce coporal punishment to force students to do as they command. indeed nothing has been recognised learnt from election Kenya's chaos. To say the kids are on drugs and have too much access to phones, TV, DVDs is nothing new. My parents accused our generation of the same. That time it was Video cassetes and Hi-Fi Systems.
But where lies the problem? Mostly i blame the parents who expect teachers to install discipline into thier children.
Mock exams have been blamed. I agree that Kenya's education system is too exam based. It causes teachers and parents to do anything to force students to pass. Parents to take thie kids to schools that have a high pass rate regardless of the social aspects of the school. 450,000 students sit for class 8 exams yet only 15,000 get into affordable universities. 99.97% of primary students will not get a degree and the chance of a better life. Is it any wonder parents will turn a blind eye sometimes what thier kids say about a school provided it has a high pass rate?
The problem is complex. Let us not simplify it and wish it away. Parents, Teachers, Politicians are all to blame. What matters is that instead of finger pointing can we look for a solution?
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