There has been a hot debate following recent ugly incidents in schools, with many people calling for tougher disciplinary measures, including the return of corporal punishment. What is your take on this?
The Children Act banned corporal punishment. We cannot casually bring back the cane. The law gives children rights, just as it gives adults rights. The question is: how do we operate within the law and develop alternative mechanisms of discipline? We need to understand the kind of children we are dealing with today and create systems that allow them to express themselves responsibly.
Are children demanding too much? And does this attitude qualify for indiscipline?
We should stop telling children that they should not question authority. In fact, adults need to ask themselves what kind of example they are setting. When children see corruption and leaders seemingly getting away with it, what values are they expected to learn?
Values are both caught and taught. You can teach a child in class that stealing is wrong, but if that child goes to social media and sees adults glorifying the proceeds of corruption, what do they learn? Teachers and preachers are doing their part, but leadership can undo everything in one tweet or one social media post.
So, you believe the debate about indiscipline should also examine adult behaviour?
We cannot point fingers at children all the time. We must ask ourselves: what discipline are we displaying? Who are children copying? What are they mimicking? We need to return to Article 10 of the Constitution, which speaks about our national values and principles of governance. Some people do not even have the moral authority to lecture children about good behaviour. When leaders lose moral authority, children inevitably lose respect for elders. That is why we must ask ourselves when and where things went wrong.
What about the conditions in schools? There have been complaints about poor food, overcrowding and inadequate facilities.
That is the elephant in the room. We keep talking about children behaving badly without addressing the conditions under which they are expected to live and learn.
We see footage of children sleeping on verandas, yet everybody focuses on what the children did.
Nobody asks the fundamental question: why was a student sleeping on a veranda in the first place? The government is pushing 100 per cent transition, which is constitutionally right, but there has not been commensurate investment to ensure that the transition is implemented seamlessly.
You have been raising concerns over the sustainability of boarding schools. Briefly explain.
We must honestly ask ourselves whether boarding schools are sustainable anymore. Kenya’s has become one of the most boarding-oriented education systems in the world. But why are we expanding boarding facilities when we cannot adequately finance them?
Boarding exaggerates the cost of education. We talk about free day secondary education, but boarding is not free. Parents have to buy bedding, uniforms, personal effects and meet other costs. For many families, admission alone can cost more than Sh50,000.
We cannot continue pretending that we have the resources to accommodate every child in boarding schools. Many parents argue that boarding schools help them because they are working and cannot supervise their children during the day. Parents have responsibilities. You cannot abdicate parenting simply because you have a job. We must have an honest conversation about what role the family should play in raising children.
At the same time, we cannot blame parents for everything. The government has a responsibility to provide safe and adequate facilities. What we have done is allocate children to schools without following that allocation with sufficient resources. You end up with dormitories designed for 40 or 60 students accommodating hundreds.
You have mentioned incidents where children sleep in extremely poor conditions. What comes to your mind?
It is an indication of failure to inspect our schools thoroughly. I remember the Moi Nairobi Girls situation where we were shocked to discover children sleeping in overcrowded conditions, including on what was described as a third deck.
Parents often do not know what conditions their children are living in because they are not allowed to inspect dormitories. That must change. They should demand accountability and insist on knowing where their children sleep and the conditions in which they live.
But should teachers be held responsible for everything that happens to children in boarding schools?
That is another misconception. Teachers teach. They are not automatically responsible for supervising children throughout the night.
If a school has a boarding component, there must be proper staffing. There should be a matron or patron sleeping close to the learners. Dormitories should have appropriate safety mechanisms and doors should not be locked from outside.
Would you therefore advocate for the abolition of boarding schools?
I am saying we must rethink the model. We cannot continue with boarding schools in the manner we are doing now.
We should expand day schooling and ensure that quality education is available close to where children live.
We have become protectionist about certain schools. Most national schools are boarding schools, and we have treated them as special institutions instead of asking how we can replicate quality across the country.
What happened to day wings that were once introduced in some major boarding schools?
That is an important question. Day wings were introduced because policymakers understood that boarding could not continue expanding indefinitely. But many were later abandoned.
One of the arguments used against day scholars was that they might introduce drugs to boarding students. That is a very weak justification for abandoning a model that could improve access, affordability and safety.
Are you suggesting the education system has failed to adapt to changing times?
A dormitory that accommodated 40 students in the 1990s may now have 300. You cannot compare the two situations. Our population has grown, technology has changed and children’s expectations have changed. Yet we continue operating schools as though we are still in the colonial era.
But schools are also concerned about inappropriate online content. Of course, there must be safeguards. I am not saying children should have unrestricted access to everything. I am saying we need structured and responsible use of technology. The answer cannot simply be to ban it.
So what would you want the Ministry of Education to do?
Provide leadership and create a national forum where parents, teachers, learners, education experts and policymakers can have a candid conversation about the future of education. This should not just be a discussion about school fires. Fires are a symptom. We need to understand what is happening underneath.
We need to discuss boarding, overcrowding, staffing, food, technology, discipline, mental wellbeing, infrastructure and the changing nature of children.
What is your message to parents and policymakers as schools reopen?
Parents must become more involved. Do not simply take your child to school and assume the government will take over parenting.
Let us stop gaslighting children and calling them indiscipline whenever they raise uncomfortable questions. Let us listen to them.
Most importantly, let us have the courage to ask the difficult question: Are boarding schools still sustainable? If they are, then the government must demonstrate that they can be operated safely, affordably and humanely.
If not, then we must have the courage to change the model. We owe our children an education system that does not merely demand discipline from them, but also demonstrates responsibility, accountability and integrity from the adults running it.
