No more funds for Students Council programme, says Unicef

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi. [PHOTO: STANDARD]

By AUGUSTINE ODUOR

NAIROBI, KENYA: The secondary schools students’ leadership programme is facing a funding hitch after the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), which has been the major sponsor, gave a notice to withdraw funding.

Unicef Deputy Country Representative Madhavi Ashok said the agency has financed operations and training sessions of secondary student’s leaders to the tune of Sh47 million for the last six years.

“We have been doing this since the inception of this leadership training programme and we feel that the baby can now walk on its own. We want to direct the funding to other education programmes that are pressing,” said Ms Ashok.

She said this year alone, Unicef has injected some Sh7 million to host the secondary students leaders and their teachers from across the country.

 “This money includes accommodation, hiring the training hall, printing of conference material and other logistics,” said Elias Jama Noor, Unicef programme officer in charge of Education and Young Peoples section.

The Students Council programme started in 2008 when Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (Kessha) in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Unicef came together.

It replaced the prefect system that saw leaders appointed by the school management. Under the councils system, students democratically elect their leaders.

Over 2,000 Students Council leaders are attending a five-day conference at the Bomas of Kenya under the theme ‘Promoting Holistic Education Foundation in School Environment.’

The first student leader’s conference took place in 2012 at the same venue.

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi, however, urged Unicef to continue funding the programme and noted that the Students Council is registering huge success.

“Since its inception, we have seen reduced cases of indiscipline, and student’s strikes have gone down tremendously,” said Prof Kaimenyi.

“You have always been with us and please don’t leave us. Do not get tired. Unicef will not become poorer if they continue to support us for 20 years to come,” pleaded the CS.

Kaimenyi also directed other secondary schools that are still using the prefect system to adopt the Students Council model.

Only half the secondary schools have fully embraced the new student’s leadership system.

Kessha National Chairman John Awiti sounded the funding alarm. “There is need than before to scale up training of these student leaders especially now that there is relative peace in schools,” he said.