Bring back the cane to Kenyans schools, State told as indiscipline surges in schools

NAIROBI: Seventy students have been locked up in police cells for burning schools in different parts of the country.

This comes as leaders continue to differ on whether corporal punishment should be reintroduced in schools.

Due to the runaway incidents of arson, Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro now wants corporal punishment re-introduced so as to instill discipline.

Yesterday, even as the debate on corporal punishment continued, two girls from Kathonzweni Secondary School in Makueni were arrested together with a boda boda rider they had sent to buy petrol.

Today, 15 secondary school students from Machakos and Makueni counties are expected in separate courts to face charges of burning or attempting to burn their schools.

In Machakos, eight students, among them seven girls from Kamuthanga Mixed Secondary, are being held at the Machakos Police Station over alleged plans to torch the school on Saturday night after they were found in possession of petrol and a petrol-soaked blanket.

BRIGHT FUTURE

Eight more girls are in cells at Murang’a Police Station following an attempt to torch a dormitory at Gaturi Girls Secondary School in Kiharu.

The Government banned corporal punishment in schools in 2001 after enacting the Children’s Act 2001. The law entitles children to protection from all forms of abuse and violence. Kenya is also a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1990), which outlaws any discipline involving violence.

But the Senate Speaker said lifting the ban on caning would enable teachers to deal effectively with indisciplined students.

“We love our children. We want them to be educated and have a bright future. They must be disciplined. As a former human rights activist, I think it is time we re-introduced caning to instill some discipline,” Mr Ethuro said.

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia supported the idea saying, “When we were in school, we were beaten and we were disciplined. What is happening now is worrying and we need to act fast to stem the tide.”

She called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and find ways of ending the current rampant wave of unrest in secondary schools.

“The President should urgently have a session with teachers and students to agree on the way forward. It is worrying to see schools that have for a long time been known for discipline leading the way in burning schools. Something is wrong and we can’t go on as usual,” Ms Macharia said.

However, Deputy President William Ruto called on religious institutions to help end arson and plots to burn schools to save public resources from massive damage.

Speaking at the Africa Inland Church (AIC) in Eldoret, Mr Ruto said religious institutions were major sponsors of schools and had a big role in ensuring the upright raising of students to counter the rampant indiscipline being blamed for a series of arson attacks in the country.

“The religious fraternity needs to commit itself to addressing the spiritual needs of students and offer a moral standing to help young people understand the importance of protecting property, and settling disputes amicably,” said Ruto.

“As the Government, we are doing our best to up our game in protecting public resources but we cannot do it without the churches, which directly influence the children’s morals,” he said.

Parliamentary Education Committee chairperson, Sabina Chege, said the committee was exploring ways of re-introducing corporal punishment in schools to curb runaway indiscipline among students.

ESCALATE UNREST

“Punishing students would help instill a high sense of discipline in schools from the basic level. I am coming up with a Bill to deal comprehensively  with cases of students implicated in the destruction of property, unlike right now when they are getting away with arson,” said the Murang’a woman representative.

However, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) said caning was not the answer as it would only escalate unrest in schools.

Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said any form of punishment would violate the children’s rights, the Constitution and the UN conventions on human rights.

“We cannot support the re-introduction of corporal punishment in schools. Any person suggesting that does not understand the laws governing children’s rights,” said Mr Sossion.

Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori agreed, adding: “The idea of corporal punishment has nothing to do with the burning of a dormitory. There are underlying issues that must be addressed. We have failed to develop students’ councils in the schools. Problems have remained static with the old order of prefects working only for the school management.”