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Kenya |
EDUCATION
Many parents
in Kenya are growing increasingly worried by a wave of student unrest
that swept the country’s schools before the schools closed for the August
break.
President Daniel arap Moi says that the opposition politicians are responsible
for much of the unrest. But others believe the problem runs deeper.
More than 30 secondary schools in Kenya were already closed by the end of July, following a series of riots, strikes and arson attacks. In an incident in March, 67 boys of Kyanguli Secondary school, died when other students set their dormitory on fire, apparently.
In the last week of July, 700 girls from Nairobi’s Alliance High School — one of the top schools in the country — marched through the streets of the city to protest the deteriorating situation in the school.
Between May 1999 and July 2001, the frequency of arson incidents in schools — attempted and executed — shot up to alarming levels. The worst cases were; March 2001 — Kyanguli Secondary School, 67 boys were killed; March 2000 — Bombolulu Girls Secondary School, 26 girls were killed; May 1999 — Nyeri High School, 2 students (prefects) were killed; July 2001 — Lelmokwo Secondary School, 1 student was killed.
Observers agree that the upsurge in violence in schools, especially where arson attacks have occurred, indicates a deteriorating social life. The Kyanguli incident was the most macabre where some students, locked the hostel door, doused the building in petrol and torched it while their colleagues were asleep inside.
After the Kyanguli School disaster in March 2001, firebomb attacks appear to have become fashionable in school unrest. In the Lelmokwo School incident, seven arsonists reportedly overpowered two watchmen guarding the school compound, before petrol-bombing the 116 capacity dormitory, killing one student and seriously injuring 53 others.
The students’ complaints focus on harsh living conditions and bad administration. School budgets are declining and corruption is widespread. Admission often depends on parents’ connections rather than a pupil’s merit.
Lack of discipline?
President Moi’s response to the student unrest is to blame it on Kenya’s opposition parties, which he says encourage civil disobedience. But other analysts have different explanations. Last year, Kenya banned corporal punishment in its schools, and some head teachers say the ban has made it impossible to control unruly students. But Mr. Odira Jefferson of Raph Academy in Nairobi believes that it is due to poor administration and corruption. He urges that counselling should be encouraged and taken seriously in the schools.
But Dr. Frank Njenga, a psychiatrist in Nairobi, says tougher discipline in the schools will not end the violence. He says that all aspects of life in Kenya are touched by violence, and until something is done to end the violence in Kenyan society, violence in the schools will likely continue.
«I don’t think disciplinary measures in schools by themselves is the total explanation. And I don’t think a task force per se is the solution», says Dr. Njenga. «I think a thoroughgoing introspection by all of us as a society is the beginning of it. But I think the broader issues, including issues of corruption and civil disorder and police violence and so on, are all part and parcel of one big whole. And I think it’s too simplistic to just say let’s cane them and they’ll be all right. It’s not true at all.»
Some observers say it’s time for the government to show greater concern for what is happening in the schools, starting with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Japheth Kiptoon.
Mr. Kiptoon has made it clear that student unrest is not one of his priorities. He has been quoted in the press saying that since Kenya has some 3,000 secondary schools, «student unrest in thirty of them is not a matter that is going to make me lose sleep.»
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