Mazera Ndurya
4 November 2009
Nairobi — The ministry of education has unearthed a scheme where indisciplined students from one province sought transfers to other provinces to hide their bad behaviour.
Coast Provincial director of education Tom Majani said his office had started investigations into how students were transferred to another province without the knowledge of the office.
He said his office was trying to find out how some 15 students who were learning in a certain school but were expelled over cases of indiscipline had already found their way to other schools outside the Coast province.
"There are students who have disciplinary cases and should not be allowed to move from one school to another indiscriminately. Every movement of these children must be monitored and if there are any disciplinary cases they must be dealt with accordingly,' he said adding that this will help root out indiscipline in schools.
Speaking during the two day Mombasa education consultative meeting at the Serena Beach hotel Mr Majani said students just like any other Kenyan were not above the law and those who broke the law will be dealt with.
The meeting that brought together heads of secondary and primary schools and education officials from Mombasa had been organised by Tourism Minister Najib Balala to come up with ways of improving education standards in the area.
Last year, according to education officials Mombasa schools performed dismally leading to cancellation of the annual education prize giving day.
Citing some cases in Malindi where several children were arrested and taken to court for torching a school the director said discipline was a key pillar for good performance and those who violated it would not be tolerated.
Similarly Mr Majani said the same trend was also prevalent among teachers who had disciplinary cases in one school opted to seek transfers to other areas especially those where they can attract hardship allowances.
During the meeting parents came under heavy criticism for failing to support the education of their children which has led to poor performance and lack of discipline in some cases.
Mombasa district commissioner Abdi Hassan called for a change of attitude towards education adding that many of the opportunities available at the Coast did not benefit the local people due to poor education standards.
"It is this negative attitude towards education that schools that used to perform well in the past have gone into academic oblivion.
"We need to come up with a new strategy for education if the situation is to change for the better so that our youths can compete effectively in the job market," Mr Abdi said.
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