SCHOOL FIRES MENACE

Among the schools that recently went up in flames include; Buruburu Girls High School, Ofafa Jericho, Kijabe Boys, Vihiga Boys, Chavakali High, St. John’s Nyamagwa High etc. Everybody pretends to not to know the cause of the fires thus leaving the education stakeholders in an awkward position.

‘Who has failed?’ is the question in everyone’s mind. Well, I guess we have all failed. When I say all, I refer to the education stakeholders. But only one ‘person’ is able to bring this problem to an end. I will be explaining ‘who and how’ in a few.

First of all, I would like to register my condolences to all the families that lost their loved ones in the recent school fires. What a shame to lose such young lives!

That done, let’s trace back to the upbringing of these kids who now are in their teens. We are dealing with a generation that has seen way too much of TV and internet and have received very little of values, discipline and love. They have been mostly raised by absentee parents, mishandled by house helps, not to mention the evils they meet in the internet. When these absentee parents come home, they spend the little time they have ‘bribing’ their children to love them back. They find it very hard to say NO to any of their requests. As teenagers, it becomes such a fuss if someone turns down their request and deprives them of what they deem a right to them. When this happens, they react almost immediately, trying to get their own back.

You may start to think, ‘but not all high ‘schoolers’ have had such an upbringing.’ Exactly! Not all have been brought up in this kind of environment. Just as I am going to add, not all of them are undisciplined. Just a few. In fact, when the school goes up in flames, the vast majority who have no privileged background get as shocked as the rest of us.

Now, let’s look at the school situation. The teachers are under pressure to produce results lest, no peace from the stakeholders, no promotion from the employer and no job satisfaction. These very same teachers have used negative reinforcement in the past and worked out perfectly but not any more. They won’t be caned; they won’t be asked to dig up some stump or wash up some pigsty. These are all illegal yet these have worked for them for years. These very same teachers have been given alternative forms of punishment (positive reinforcement) but very few of them have been able to implement or even study the methods, some of which include; positive comments, awarding certificates, gifting them etc. Those who try to implement these also need a financial boost from the school heads which may not always be forthcoming. The teacher is at a crossroads in matters discipline in general. In most staff rooms, you will hear the slogan, ‘teach and go home.’ This implies, minimal services to the learner and more time for making alternative sources of income since promotion in the teaching field is getting more and more elusive.

Way forward

Any time the school fires break out or any kind of school unrest, the ministry of education is quick to refer the culprits for psychological Counselling which I totally support, by the way. However, I have reservations over this. First of all, who is this counsellor? Are they trained? Do they have a proper office?  If yes, wonderful! But they are teachers first of all and they need to ensure Value Added Progress to their learners or else no promotion. They are teachers first of all and they have similar workloads as any other teacher so where is the extra time for counselling? They are teachers first of all and they are on duty and they are in class and get a little too familiar with the students. The all too familiar attitude comes in their way of duty thus learners cannot confide in them. As such, it demands a lot of sacrifice to work extra as a school counsellor. Most Guidance and Counselling teachers function only theoretically.

While the Ministry of education is trying hard not to invest too much in psychological counselling and school chaplaincy, I think they will always have to combat with the current generation of learners who are not accustomed to hearing a NO from their elders. This reactive culture will continue until proper channels that cater for the learners’ emotional, spiritual and moral voids are thoroughly checked. Hire school chaplains at very little cost and save millions or billions going up in flames in myriads of schools countrywide and stop the blame game. The Ministry of Education is the ‘who,’ is the ‘how,’ is the person.

By Sr. Esther Jeruto Koros OSF

essyjeru@gmail.com 

0726179789