Peter Ngare and Benjamin Muindi
14 July 2008
Nairobi — Parents are on the spot over indiscipline among students in secondary schools with, educators accusing them of being too busy to care about their children.
The problem, says the chairman of Kenya Primary School Heads Association, Mr Joseph Karuga, emanates from primary school.
"Parents have abandoned traditional ways of enforcing discipline. They treat children with kid gloves. These children attend the best academies where they are pampered. And by the time they go to secondary school, they find conditions in public schools are totally different from what they are used to," Mr Karuga said.
Blind eye
The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman, Mr Cleophas Tirop, said many parents turned a blind eye even when they were aware their children were engaging in anti-social behaviour.
"It is the parents who have created this mess. At home children are pampered. When they come to school they find rules and regulations they have to follow and because they are not used to them, they rebel," he said.
Teachers also cite the Children Act passed in 2001 and a ban on caning, as handicapping teachers in their traditional role as disciplinarians.
"Our hands are tied by the Act and the ban on caning. You can neither cane nor punish children by giving manual work as you will be accused of subjecting students to physical and psychological abuse or torture," said Mr Tirop.
"Students are breaking the rules knowing that they can seek redress in court if punished. Teachers have been stripped of their authority to enforce discipline," he said.
Rush to court
"We used to operate on the principle of mutual understanding with parents and other stakeholders. But of late, parents are rushing to the courts to seek redress."
The secretary general of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, Mr Francis Ng'ang'a, said court rulings last year against disciplinary measures marked the beginning of lawlessness in schools.
"Parents have given too much freedom to their children. They are accompanying them to entertainment joints, where they are exposed to all sorts of behaviour. They must come back to their senses and realise that they are ruining their children," he said.
He also blamed the media, saying it played a big role in corrupting students and called for censorship of programmes on local television stations.
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This one of many gaffes we have borrowed from the west. Before the act was passed there was alot of lobbying by interested groups like the media, ngos, Lost parents etc. I was in the minority who were raising a red flag because i knew when i was in school in the 70s and 80s we did not fear other forms of punishment, we only feared caning and that fear brought most of us in line with society expectations. We might have lost a whole generation because selfish people who were just making noise to be heard. It is nowadays very common to see students of different schools fighting in nairobi streets. I personaly have rescued many of these students as they are being clobbered by their rivals. The act also prevents parents from caning their children but in my home my kids know the cane is not very far any time. If i did not die from beatings i used to get from teachers and my mother i dont think my kids can die also.