School officials fail to implement solutions to unrest

The new wave of students’ unrest in schools across the country has once again put the Ministry of Education on the spot over the implementation of various task force reports with a view to addressing the problem.

A report by a task force chaired by former provincial administrator Claire Omollo released last year made radical proposals on ways of curbing unrest in schools.

Before the Omollo team, there were three task forces — Kirima Commission (1994) Wangai task force (2001) and Koech Committee (2008), all set up to find a solution to school unrest in the country.

Ms Omollo team gave the Ministry of Education a period of between three months and two years to implement its proposals in order to address the problem once and for all.

EXAMINATION

However, most schools have maintained that they cannot implement them due to lack of funds.

Since the start of the year, more than 33 schools have witnessed unrest as compared to 67 schools last year.

In 2016, there were 483 reported incidents of unrest which included 239 cases of arson.

Majority of the incidents in 2016, 88.8 per cent occurred in second term.

And despite the report identifying mock examination as a major cause of unrest due to pressure on students, most schools continue to administer the examination as they prepare candidates for the main exams in November.

DESTRUCTION

The unrests are characterised by burning of buildings, especially dormitories, administration blocks, classrooms and food stores.

Out of 283 building burnt in 2016, 188 were dormitories. There were also cases of general destruction of schools and students’ property, boycott of classes and examinations, walkouts, sit-ins and written threats to administration.

During the period, 1075 suspects were arrested out of which 1029 were students.

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (Kessha) chairman Kahi Indimuli on Friday admitted the latest wave of unrest is worrying.

Mr Indimuli asked the government to step in and help address the problem.

“We wish to propose that students who engage in any form of unrest that leads to destruction of properties be suspended for one year. By staying out of school for a year, students will now be responsible as they will know that such activities have consequences,” he said.

COMMUNICATION

Mr Indimuli cautioned against the blanket closure of schools as it adversely affected innocent students.

He said the government should support schools by putting in place security measures that were proposed in the report.

Education expert Andiwo Obondo said the new wave of strikes could be as a result of re-introduction of mock examination, which is now putting more pressure on students.

“Mocks had been stopped but it appears school heads have brought them back,” said Mr Obondo.

He also blamed poor management and lack of proper communication channels between students and management as part of the causes of unrest.

Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang cautioned against strikes saying they ate into the academic calendar.

“We have to address this issue so that we allow our students to learn. We will not be intimidated at all by students who want to use shortcuts to pass examination,” said Dr Kipsang.

INTELLIGENCE

He disclosed that a team had been formed to oversee the implementation of the task force report.

Ms Omollo’s team recommended that the Ministries of Education and that of Interior and National Coordination develop a programme to build the capacity of school administrators in intelligence gathering, surveillance, crime scene preservation and basic skills on disaster management within six months.

The ministry, within the same period, was also to involve security agencies in sensitisation programmes to create awareness on the role of security agencies, the consequences of engaging in criminal activities like radicalisation, arson and drug abuse and its effects on students.

The ministry was also to form a multi-disciplinary team to oversee and monitor the implementation of the recommendation of the report, which Dr Kipsang said had already been set up.

The team also proposed lifestyle audits for school principals and bursars at least once every two years to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of school resources.

IRREGULARITIES

It also recommended that the Ministry of Education set up a monitoring and evaluation section to enforce compliance with policies and ensure accountabilities.

The section was to be set up within six months of the release of the report.

It also recommended that strict examination management measures be enforced to stem irregularities in examinations.

All schools were also required to have a secure perimeter fence with a gate manned 24-hours within two years while schools were required to employ adequate, vetted security guards with basic security skills and not beyond the mandatory retirement age within three months.

Schools were also required to adopt appropriate security measures e.g. 24 hour CCTV surveillance, sniffer dog checks for drugs, metal detector checks, random dog security patrols and adequate security lighting in three months.

It also recommended that within six months, all schools should have functional, well maintained and strategically place firefighting equipment and fire drills for students and staff should be conducted at least twice- year.

DISHONESTY

The team established that although the Ministry of Education had issued policy guidelines on fees structures, corporal punishment, holiday tuition, the minimum standard size of school buildings and their capacities and joint mock examinations, these had not been fully adhered to.

“In some cases, the field offices coordinated joint mocks together with county governments, Kessha, and Kepsha,” reads the report.

It was established that the intense pressure to excel in the examinations had over the years created an environment of dishonesty among various stakeholders including students, teachers, parents and principals who went out their way to facilitate cheating.

The tough examination guidelines which were issued in 2016 and which aimed at curbing cheating caused panic among some stakeholders culminating in school unrest.

It was further established there was a misconception that Knec took into account mock results in determining the final KCSE grades, making the students resist sitting for the mock examinations.

In some schools, students complained the administration had failed to facilitate cheating in 2015 KCSE examinations while others demanded that principals facilitate.

EMERGENCY

School safety was among the reasons students went on the rampage. And it was noted that most schools did not have necessary school safety policy documents.

“Unsafe and poor living conditions were major grievances among students during previous unrests," noted the report. It added some schools had dormitories that did not have emergency exits or they were blocked.

They had also narrow doors that compromised the safety of students.

Most of schools visited had overcrowded and congested dormitories with some students sleeping on triple decker beds and in some cases they were forced to share beds.

It was observed that in some schools, dormitories were sometimes not locked all the times when learners were out which could have encouraged easy access by intruders.

It was reported that some dormitories were sometimes locked from outside when students were asleep to deter them from sneaking out of the school.

The investigations also noted school rules were too many and at times stringent, vague and prepared without participation of students and other stakeholders.

RADICALISATION

It was noted that in some cases punishment for breaking the rules was not a deterrent enough as it burdened the parents and not the student.

“In one school the punishment after a second suspension was a recommendation for transfer to another school. This encouraged students who were not happy with their current schools to be delinquent in order to earn transfers,” reads the report.

It recommended that the Ministry of Education guidelines on the formulation of rules and regulations should be concise, clear and formulated through a participatory process.

The report also noted that most schools visited lacked structured disciplinary committees. There were also no specific guidelines on the operations of the committees which led to arbitrary decision making in many cases.

It also recommended that recommendations of the Wangai and Koech task forces which were partially or not implemented but are still relevant should be implemented alongside those of the Omollo report.

The report also pointed at the presence of terrorists and criminal gangs in schools with teachers sharing extremist literature with students with the aim of radicalising them.

SUFFOCATION

School unrest have in the past led to death of students.

In 1991, 19 girls at St Kizito Mixed Secondary School died from rape by boys and suffocation while in 1998, 26 girls died at Bombolulu Girls Secondary School in a dormitory fire.

In 1999, four prefects at Nyeri High School died when they were locked in their cubicle by other students and set on fire while at Kyanguli Secondary School in 2001, 68 boys died in a dormitory fire.

In 2008, one student died at Upper Hill Secondary School died in a dormitory fire while in 2015 two students at Steph Joy, a private school in Kiambu County, died and 10 others were injured in a dormitory fire.