Reintroduce NYS mandatory training

Gone are the days when it was a prerequisite for secondary school graduates to go through our ‘small Kiganjo’- National Youth Service (NYS) training before proceeding to institutions of higher learning. Gone too are the days when the said graduates would spend close to two years after clearing secondary school education before furthering their studies.

Either of the above ways knocked sense into the heads of the young and juvenile fellows. By the time they enrolled in tertiary institutions, at least they knew at the back of their minds that dunia si ya mama ya mtu.

The heinous act by Chuka university students in the name of a strike recently was an archaic way of airing grievances to state the least. Sadly, it is to a substantial extent a product of the direct intake to universities introduced in 2010 and abolishment of the NYS prerequisite. Gutting the University’s bus and looting did not, would not and will never solve whatever that sparked the unrest. If anything, you will agree with me that most likely, their parents and guardians shall foot the replacement and repair expenses to be incurred in reconstructing the institution.

The government should re-introduce the mandatory NYS training or scrap out the direct intake to the institutions to avert such rowdy behavior and restore sanity. This will act as a better way of contextualizing ‘Look before you leap’ to the benefit of the entire society.