How Kenya's Alliance Boy's High School keeps student strikes at bay

Alliance Boys' High School students celebrate 2014 KCSE results. (PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD)

This may seem strange, but majority of Kenyans would be surprised to learn that Alliance High School has had two student protests in its 89-year existence.

Its track record has been so clean that many are not aware of the 1933 and 1997 incidences, which lasted for at most a day.

Alliance has always been regarded with awe, having been a top-tier high school, and has produced some of the best brains globally and is known for stellar maintenance of discipline.

With the current wave of school unrests, parents, leaders and educationists are wondering what magic Alliance applies to consistently maintain sanity, churning out productive members of society year after year.

David Kariuki, the principal, says this is no accident, but is as a result of the calibre of students they admit and the institution’s culture.

“The boys are focused,” he notes. The institution has also established open lines of communication which allows students and other stakeholders ventilate their grievances. This way, we ensure all issues of concern are raised promptly and amicably,” says Mr Kariuki.

Strong structures

Former principal Chris Khaemba, says the institution holds the Principal's Talk, where students, teachers and the principal engage in a candid discussion on issues affecting students and the management.

“During my tenure, I would let the students share their thought on the school management. They would tell us our flaws and what they thought ought to be improved," he says.

Dr Khaemba also says it is advisable to share with the students any project the school intends to implement. This, he says, would help them understand challenges the institution faces and opportunities available.

A powerful prefect body has also contributed to stability and discipline among the students.

“We have established strong structures in the prefecture, for instance, the Pentagon, a panel of five senior prefects,” said Kariuki.

“The panel sits with both the students and teachers to discuss issues directly affecting their colleagues.”

The school captain is required to brief the principal every morning on any matters arising, while the deputy captain sits with the deputy principal to do the same.

“This ensures that we are in touch with the boys at all times,” he said.

Parents are also involved at every stage of the students’ lives in school.

“Besides PTA, we also have the Parents Focus, which exists in every class, and specifically discusses the boys’ welfare and how they can be motivated in addition to addressing their grievances.”

He spoke of the need to bring parents closer to the administration as part of management, saying boys open up more easily to parents, which helps solve issues that would otherwise remain unresolved.

He says the school administrators also need to be careful in the way they handle students.

“We are creating prisons in form of schools. Students are being locked in for three months with nowhere to go,” he noted.

At Alliance, they have established a system that demonstrates trust in the students and gives them avenues to let out steam.

“We have what we call the Three-Kilometre Rule,” noted Kariuki. “Every two weeks, we allow the boys to go out of the school between 2p.m. to 5p.m., anywhere within a 3-kilimetre radius and no one stops them”.

There have only been a few instances where students have abused this trust. However, such cases have been dealt with accordingly.