Dreaded second term returns to haunt schools

A dormitory in Dr Aggrey National School in Taita Taveta County on fire. [Renson Mwanyamwezi, Standard] 

The death of 16 girls in a dormitory fire at Utumishi Girls Senior School in Gilgil has once again thrust the country’s troubled second term into the spotlight.

The fatal incident comes after weeks of school unrest, dormitory fires and student strikes reported in different parts of the country, reviving fears over a pattern that has repeatedly haunted schools during the longest and most demanding term of the school calendar.

Since schools reopened on April 28, cases of unrest have been reported in several institutions across the country, including Upperhill School and State House Girls High School in Nairobi, Ambira Boys’ High School in Siaya, Kaumoni Boys High School (Makueni), Mirithu Girls Secondary School (Kiambu), Dr Aggrey National School (Taita Taveta), Kangaru School (Embu) and Njoro Girls Senior School (Nakuru).

The incidents have ranged from student strikes and protests to vandalism and fires, disrupting learning and causing significant damage to school infrastructure. 

Several other schools have witnessed unrest since the Utumishi Girls Senior School incident.

Government reports dating back more than two decades have consistently identified second term as the peak period for unrest. 

The trend has persisted despite numerous government inquiries, policy reforms and recommendations aimed at addressing the problem.

A 2017 report — Special Investigation Team on School Unrest — commissioned following the nationwide wave of school fires in 2016 concluded that the timing of unrest was far from coincidental.

“The timing of unrest is instructive. The dates seem to coincide with critical events in the school calendar, for example the mock examinations,” the report observed. 

It further noted that academic disruptions such as teachers’ strikes often left students feeling unprepared for examinations, heightening anxiety and frustration.

The report described the 2016 unrest as “premeditated, pre-planned and systematically executed”, with most incidents occurring during the second term when academic pressure is at its highest.

It found that 429 of the 483 incidents of unrest recorded in 2016 —almost 89 per cent — occurred during second term alone.

According to investigators, examination pressure remains one of the strongest triggers of unrest. The report linked strikes to fear of examinations, syllabus coverage concerns and mounting pressure among candidates preparing for national examinations.

Historically, student grievances have remained largely unchanged.

The report traced recurring complaints to poor quality of food, inadequate learning materials, poor administration, poor infrastructure and fear of examinations.

It also cited earlier studies that identified poor diet, harsh school rules, inadequate facilities, poor communication between students and administration, lack of entertainment, drug abuse and poor management as recurring causes of unrest.

Perhaps more significantly, the investigation found that some students viewed unrest as an effective way of forcing authorities to listen.

Citing previous investigations, the report noted that students understood that destruction of property often attracted attention from officials beyond the school administration.

“Students know that burning of their facilities helps them to achieve some immediate goals like drawing the attention of the authorities who are above the principal,” the report stated.

The findings suggest that second term creates a perfect storm of circumstances. 

“It is the longest and often most demanding term in the academic calendar. By this stage, students have spent months in school, academic targets become more intense and preparations for examinations begin in earnest,” the report reads.

Recognising the pattern, the then Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i introduced a raft of reforms between 2015 and 2017 aimed at reducing pressure on learners and improving school welfare. 

Among the measures were the introduction of mandatory mid-term breaks in both first and second terms, a ban on joint mock examinations and the outlawing of holiday tuition.

The reforms were intended to reduce examination-related stress and provide learners with breaks during lengthy school sessions.

However, the 2017 investigation found that several recommendations made by previous commissions and task forces had either been partially implemented or ignored altogether.

The report established that despite official directives, many schools continued to conduct mock examinations under different names, offer remedial and holiday classes, and operate with inadequate counselling structures.

It also found weak enforcement of policies, noting “there was clear disregard of policies such as ban on holiday tuition, county mocks, fees guidelines” among other regulations.

The report further revealed that recommendations dating back to the Wangai Task Force of 2001 and the Parliamentary Committee on Education investigations of 2008 remained largely unimplemented.

These included strengthening guidance and counselling services, reducing examination pressure, improving communication between students and school administrations and decongesting dormitories.

More than two decades later, many of the same concerns continue to surface whenever schools erupt in unrest.

The recurring cycle of school unrest has also revived debate over proposals that have periodically surfaced whenever major incidents occur.

Among the most controversial is the push by some education stakeholders and politicians to reintroduce corporal punishment, which was officially banned in Kenyan schools in 2001.