We are raising bookworms who are socially, emotionally stunted

While the focus in the education sector for the last couple of weeks has been the bullying tragedy in one of Kenya's top schools, my personal interactions have drawn me towards another calamity in public boarding schools.

While it may not make headlines because it comes bloodless and has no clearly discernible victims, it nevertheless has the same potential of destroying a generation of young people. My attention was drawn to this disaster after interactions with several schools in the last month which left me convinced me that while we may think we are placing our youngsters on the road to success, we are sacrificing much of their youth on the altar of defective success.

The schools I have interacted with are top of the range; they all appear in the top 50 in the KCSE performances. If you pop into these schools, the children and their environment look neat, tidy and disciplined. It is only when you take a second look that you realise that the energy that naturally flows from this age group is missing. Then you notice they look generally exhausted and lethargic, and are obviously in need of a snooze.

This realisation got me asking the students about their daily schedules. I was alarmed to learn that in all the schools I interacted with, students wake up at between 4.30 and 5 in the morning. From then on until they sleep at 11pm, they spend an average 11 hours in class either having lessons or personal prep time. Weekends are hardly different from weekdays. Games time is squeezed somewhere between 4pm and 5pm which is also the time students are expected to interact with teachers in case they have subject challenges. On average, these students, who are all in their mid to late teens, sleep for five hours.

These schools generally excel in academics but I wonder at what cost this success is being achieved. Most of these kids end up with poor social skills since most of their active time is spent in a programmed pressure-filled environment. Most of all they are always physically exhausted, a natural contributor to stress and stunted mental and emotional development. Some students informed me that at any time in class, a quarter of their class is asleep and despite serial punishments, this situation recurs every day. Let me be clear. This is not a school blaming piece. I completely appreciate the teachers' perspective and why they consider this punishing schedule necessary.

Indeed, teachers are fellow sufferers who pay a huge sacrifice in their own personal lives. I even wonder when teachers get time to renew their own knowledge so that they can improve professionally! What informs these choices is the reality of Kenya's education system and the intense competition it breeds. Coupled with this is the reality that for most of these children, who are generally not from well off families, failure in examinations can define their futures irredeemably.

For many of them, failure to get a place in public universities spells doom not just for them but whole families who have invested in their success. Looking at the syllabus and what they need to cover it is inevitable that these kids will be taken through these grueling schedules. It is from these and related experiences that I am rooting for the immediate implementation of the proposed reforms in the education sector.

Other than expanding options for students beyond the narrow focus that today's system gives, one hopes that the new system will create more opportunities for children to live the entire reality of their youth. More time for sports. More time for extra curricula activities. More social interaction time. More time for personal unsupervised growth. In the meantime, I really plead with the leadership in the sector including the indefatigable Dr Fred Matiang'i to ensure all schools allocate students, at the very least, a minimum time for sleep and sports and other extra curricula activities including clubs. Failing this we will be celebrating academic giants who are, however, socially and emotionally stunted.