The latest episode of Ambira Boys KCSE candidates hurling unmentionable insults at the CS-Interior and CS-Education is indicting some aspects our education system. The fact that the students had the audacity to record the clip and share via WhatsApp which later went viral shows that discipline in our schools has gone to the dogs.
The tone and the spirit with which these boys were saying the words was a manifest of piled up anger. They were bursting with vengeance, no doubt, under the influence of some unholy drugs. It is a pity that the government is investing a lot of resources in education with little focus on the moral pillar of this so called ‘our tomorrow’
There has also been some images of girls with graffiti allover their uniforms upbeat that school is over. The girls are celebrating the end of the KCSE Examination as if they have been released from jail. The nation is left to wonder, have schools been transformed to some sort of Roben Island maximum Prisons that once students clear examinations, they toss themselves up for the wind to blow them in all the four compass directions. It is a pity where we are headed in this 21st century.
As these stuff was being shared on WhatsApp groups, some members have commented saying “let children be children.” And the question that arises is: should children be let to be children even after eighteen years by having them walk around with diapers?
At some point in life, a good child need to know that some behaviour is offending to the Society and freedom of being a child should be enjoyed with restraint.
There has been protracted discourse on the rising number of teen pregnancies. The topic came up and attracted so many opinion experts in almost all the media houses during the KCPE examination period. A number of girls wrote exams from maternity wards and others sat in exam rooms with bulging bodies. Over thirty teachers have already been fired by TSC having been implicated in carnal Knowledge with minors- sorry scenario of a caretaker-turned-hyena.
However, the predator factor aside, most of these early pregnancies are as a result of indiscipline among our children. The students are enjoying unlimited freedom that is costly at the long run. The laxity of the twenty First Century parents and their obsession with material wealth has left our children to admire ‘sponsors’ and hence end up losing a future. The fear among teachers losing their job in case they are alleged of reprimanding learners has worsened the situation. The ever threat-spitting TSC CEO has made teachers concentrate on drilling learners on exams and filling Teacher Performance and Appraisal Document ( TPAD) at the expense of guiding learners on Social Skills.
The Ministry of Education should come up with a policy on Social Ethics Education. The life Skills programme currently implimented in schools is not doing enough. The foregoing Ambira scenario and much criticized teen pregnancies are indicative of the failure of the programme.
Chaplaincy in schools is a forgotten front. Most schools do not give the learners the required spiritual attention to guide the growing teens on religious upbringing. The students are left on the mercy of the populist media personalities that believe in ‘sonkoism.’ Most religious sponsors are out to cut deals rather than their core business spiritual education. The antagonism that the former CS Education , Dr Fred Matiangi faced when he attempted to transfer some principals is a testimony to this fact.
The MOEST Should vet and pay some stipend to priests, Pastors, Kadhis attached to various schools. These men of cloth should have a say on the conduct of the learner when signing the leaving certificates.
The Ministry should emphasize on the system that graduates learners with good moral standing rather than the current emphasis on grades. It is high time KNEC sought the recommendation of the school principals on the conduct of the learners and the same be captured on the final certificate. Long are the days an individual could get into an interview room and be asked to present a leaving certificate from school. Most employers are currently emphasizing on grades and degree distinctions. Nothing will stop a student who abuses people on authorities to steal once they are given a chance to serve people at work place. Nothing will stop such Social misfits from raping, mugging and many more vices.
For Kenya to regain it’s moral ground in the future, discipline in schools should be boosted. The nation will spend very little on commissions intended to guard chapter six components of our constitution.
Story by Moturi Kayaga Elias