Parents and schools in row over 'cut' of pupils

Isaiah Lucheli

The debate whether male pupils should be circumcised before sitting their KCPE exams or not has caused uproar in Uasin Gishu County.

The debate emerged last month when several pupils were expelled for undergoing the cut.

The schools’ management said ‘early’ circumcision led to indiscipline among boys, leading to poor performance in exams.

Parents protested, but the schools’ management maintained that the rite of passage should be administered after pupils sit their KCPE exams.

The ‘mature’ boys were said to be rude, especially to female teachers,

James Kibor and his two sons who were expelled for undergoing the cut. [PHOTOS: KEVIN TUNOI/STANDARD]

and did not adhere to school rules.

The expulsion became a national debate and the Ministry of Education ordered the schools to re-admit the pupils. The expulsions put into sharp focus the kind informal education initiates get. A row between some churches and traditional circumcisers recently erupted over the matter. More than 10 boys from one of the church sponsored primary schools in the area had been expelled for undergoing circumcision.

The church castigated the circumcisers for promoting indiscipline among initiates. The schools’ management said they had taken the decision to check declining performances. Three institutions - Naiberi, Tendwo and Uhuru primary schools in Eldoret East - made good their threat when it expelled pupils who underwent the cut against an agreement made during Parents Teachers Association meetings. The institutions’ management said parents who wanted their school going boys circumcised should put the children’s interests first. The management said assessments done for three years showed poor results were due to indiscipline among boys who had transitioned to ‘adulthood’.

Reason for expulsion

"The decision to send the pupils away was arrived at because the group was indisciplined and performed poorly," says Naiberi head teacher Eric Kibor.

He adds: "Some students ‘grow horns’ and others are daring enough to confront teachers when they are punished. Some even refuse to be taught by female teachers."

The affected institutions had convened a stakeholders meeting and the matter was deliberated, which led to the setting up of the rules. They said the rules were aimed at curbing the problem and improving performance in national exams.

Kibor recalls an incident when one of the pupils manhandled a teacher who had asked him to attend Physical Education, session saying it is a childish exercise.

"The administration reported the culprit to police and he was locked in for several days," he says. Circumcised pupils also refuse to take orders from school prefects.

The affected school says circumcisers instil bad behaviour in boys under their care during the circumcision rites.

"This is evident because a disciplinary report showed that those who had undergone the rite even molest girls," says Kibor.

He says some of the boys had ‘grabbed’ toilets and barred other pupils from using the facilities.

Kibor takes issue with parents who have refused to see the connection between indiscipline by the ‘young adults’ and declining education levels. He says though the rite of passage is important, boys should be initiated at ‘right time’ after primary school education. He expresses concern that the directive from the Ministry of Education that the pupils be readmitted would compound the problem.

"We have been ordered to re-admit the pupils offer guidance and counselling to remove the stigma," he says. Eldoret East District Education Officer Kalenda Simiyu says the expulsions were illegal. According to Kiplangat Koech, a member of Kalenjin Council of Elders, the rite is mandatory in the community and educationists need to contend with it.

"This is a culture that we inherited from our ancestors and if we abandon it we risk being cursed," says Koech. Though he was displeased with the expulsions, Koech says he is against circumcision of children who have not completed their primary education. He contends that some circumcisers could be ‘putting ideas’ into the boys’ heads during seclusion.

The elder says the issue should be discussed to come up with an amicable solution.

James Kibor, whose sons were to join Standard Eight, says there has not been a problem before.

"The issue brought unnecessary tension. The management should find ways of addressing such issues without raising a storm," says Sammy Bor, a Kenya National Union of Teachers official.

He however said this was not an excuse for parents not to rein in their indisciplined children or for the school to contend with poor performance.