Kuppet Wants Ministry To Hire Full-Time Counselors To Address Student Unrest.
The recent wave of arson attacks in schools has resulted in the torching of a number of secondary schools, forcing authorities to close some of the affected institutions.
In the midst of questions about the motivations behind the fires, education stakeholders are proposing drastic measures to halt the trend.
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) wants the Ministry of Education to consider hiring full-time counsellors to address student unrest and school torching.
KUPPET Busia Branch Secretary-General Morphat Okisai says that counsellors who are enlisted for school programs should be paid by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The KUPPET official also wants the Ministry of Education to allow physical punishment in order to ensure more immediate compliance in children.
“Our proposal to the ministry and the teachers service commission is let us bite the bullet and introduce corporal punishment,” Busia Secretary-General Morphat Okisai said.
In addition to corporal punishment, Okasai believes that students who are found to be indisciplined should be suspended and expelled from school to serve as an example to the rest of the students.
“As it stands now, we have allowed the rights of children to override the rights of everybody else,” a tough-talking Okisai charged.
He believes that learning institutions must be protected from demolition at all costs in order to prevent the country’s education from being jeopardized by a few “bad elements” in society.
Okisai wants the ministry to find a long-term solution, emphasizing that giving students mid-term breaks is not a solution to school unrest.
St. Mary’s Miambani Mixed Secondary School Dormitory Burned
This comes as St. Mary’s Miambani Mixed Secondary School in Kitui has been added to the list of shame after a dormitory was demolished Tuesday morning.
Area Senior Chief Muthoka Kilonzo confirmed the incident, stating that the dormitory previously housed 76 students.
The fire was extinguished with only a few items salvaged from the inferno thanks to the combined efforts of parents and school neighbours.
As investigations into the cause of the fire continue, no injuries have been reported.
And on Monday, more than 700 students were sent home from Naivasha High School in Nakuru County Monday after hundreds of them walked out.
Kisilu Mutua, Deputy County Commissioner, said it was unclear what prompted the students to leave school.
The incident occurs just hours after Education CS George Magoha criticized the recent spate of arson cases in schools, warning students that serious disciplinary action would be taken against those found to be responsible.
