Why the ministry of education is partly to blame for the wave of indiscipline in schools

Recently, the country has witnessed a wave of indiscipline cases in various schools. Close to 50 schools have been closed due to students’ unrest. The bizarre case of five students who went missing from Stephjoy Academy in Limuru only to resurface a week later at a TV station and the manner in which they were received by their parents brings to the fore the debilitating standards of discipline in our schools.

The rising cases of indiscipline in schools should be a concern for stakeholders in the education sector. The country keeps on witnessing an upsurge of cases of arson, homosexuality, bullying, alcoholism, sexual immorality, drug and substance abuse and general truancy in our schools at an alarming rate. It is imperative for the education stakeholders to come together to find out the root cause of this dire situation with a view to exploring ways of mitigating it lest the school system comes crumbling down.

In a meeting last week, education stakeholders led by education cabinet secretary Jacob Kaimenyi identified political interference, tribalism, religious politics and poor relations between students and teachers as some of the triggers of the recent wave of indiscipline in schools. Much as some of these factors play a role in this menace, it is important to note that they are too auxiliary. The ministry of education is beating around the bush and failing to face the real problem in our schools. It is preposterous to blame this whole problem on pressure resulting from mock examinations or even political interference.

What the ministry is running away from is the fact that this problem is mainly caused by the growing sense of ‘empowerment’ in the students as a result of the policies that seem to cushion them from punishment. These policies include the ban on corporal punishment, the restrictions on suspension and expulsion of undisciplined students and even the inclusion of students in the Board of Management Committees. In as much as these policies were put in place for a good reasons, the ministry of education did not envision the pernicious effect that they may have on the students’ discipline and come up with measures to curb their side effects that are now palpable. The result has seen the rise of a crop of students that feel indispensable hence can either do anything in school and get away with it or hold teachers and school administrators at ransom for failure to play to their mediocre whims. This is why a minor problem like lack of enough sugar in their tea can lead to violence and arson in a school.

Consequently, school administrators and teachers have been rendered helpless. The ministry stresses the fact that they should resort to guidance and counselling as the only way of dealing with indiscipline cases in schools. What the education officials are not alive to is that most of the teachers are not sufficiently trained in guidance and counselling. As a matter of fact, most of the universities and colleges do not offer enough courses in counselling hence scores of teachers go into the teaching field poorly armed on how to deal with cases of truancy. Moreover, some of the indiscipline cases are hardcore and clearly beyond teachers’ ability. For instance, it becomes very hard for counselling to effectively deal with arsonists or bullies masquerading as students in the schools.

The fact that students of today are radically different from those of a generation ago has served to worsen the situation. Leaners of yesteryears came to school already armed with basic virtues and moral principles nurtured at the family level. These virtues included honesty, obedience, courtesy, perseverance, patience, and respect. Nowadays, the school system has been overloaded with parenting and academic roles. Teachers are overwhelmed with duties some of which have been neglected by parents.

It is apparent that problem of indiscipline in schools is largely due this parental crisis. Parents have failed to raise their children with the right social values that embodied self-discipline. They have pushed this herculean task to the teachers who have been handicapped by the defective training system and stringent, student-friendly policies. This explains why children are taken to school at a very tender age. What’s more, religion has become unable to foster spiritual values that have traditionally led to self-discipline among the youth.

The media, which has failed to uphold morality, does not help matters either. The kind of content spewed out from the television, FM radios, magazines, the internet and the social sites has led the students to take up loose morals that lead to indiscipline in schools. Clearly the current generation is at risk.

Education stakeholders should have this broader perspective in order to understand the problem of indiscipline in schools rather than prevaricating and blaming it on other minor issues like exams.

This problem demands a well-thought out and multi-faceted approach. For counselling to replace corporal punishment as the ministry has it, teachers must be properly trained in psychology and emotional intelligence in order to have know-how on dealing with cases of truancy in schools. The ministry must also rethink some of the policies that create a sense of unnecessary ‘empowerment’ among the students. It is imperative to note that the ministry of education has played an inadvertent role in the rising indiscipline cases in schools and must rise up to the occasion to correct the situation.

The teachers’ sense of authority in disciplining students must be restored and this can be done by fully involving them in coming up with policies touching on students’ discipline. They should not be reduced to mere implementers of the policies generated from a top-bottom approach from the ministry.

Parents must also take up their roles in imparting discipline in their children. They should not pamper their children excessively in the manner demonstrated by the parents of the Stephjoy students.