- Most primary schools require pupils to be in school by as early as 6.30am, despite the official start time for classes being 8am.
-This forces children to wake up as early as 5am.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Parents are to blame for the extra hours their children spend in class instead of sleeping, Education CS George Magoha said on Thursday.
Classes are officially supposed to start at 8 am but most primary schools require pupils to be in class as early as 6.30 am.
This forces children to wake up as early as 5 am to prepare for school.
Nancy Peggy, a mother of four in Bamburi, Mombasa, said two of her children wake up at 5 am and are often at the stage by 5.30 am to catch a bus to school.
“After they are picked, the bus goes round picking other children and by the time they get to school, it is almost 7 am. They are just taken around for nothing,” Peggy told the Star on Thursday.
She said the children are given a huge load in homework.
“Sometimes they don’t eat well because they insist they must finish their homework. Sometimes they retire to bed at midnight,” Peggy said.
Despite protests by parents, the routine remains with little attention to the not so good security of the neighbourhood.
On Thursday, Magoha said parents and other stakeholders have a role to play to prevent the scenario.
He said the government has issued a circular detailing when children should be in class and when they should be at home.
“When parents allow children to leave their houses at 5 am, what exactly do you want me to do?” Magoha said.
This, he said, is a conversation that requires parents, teachers, the media, the government and the children to have.
He said the brain, especially a child’s, can only work effectively for a specific duration of time before it requires rest.
“I know this because I have taught for 41 years. A child must be allowed to be a child,” the CS said.
He said there are people in some professions today who can’t speak English because they were never allowed to be children.
“That is why there is no reason a child should go to school on Saturday but you still see them going. The parents allow them. It is a conversation that has no silver bullet. We have to engage together,” Magoha said.
The Education Ministry has been criticised by leaders from Northeastern after the Teachers Service Commission withdrew non-local teachers from the region over insecurity.
But Magoha said the government policy requires every child t get the same learning conditions as his/her counterparts, irrespective of where they come from.
He said the government is working to ensure that teachers, including non-locals, are posted to Northeastern and given maximum protection.
He said the government will also ensure the locals and their leaders take part in securing the non-local teachers.
He said there are already a good number of non-local teachers in the Northeastern region and many are also in the process of being posted there.
The CS said teachers who insist on caning teachers will be dealt with ruthlessly because it is against the law.
“Any teacher who canes a child goes against the grain and the laws that are applicable must be applied like yesterday,” Magoha said.
He said the few teachers who break the law should not be allowed to spoil the image of hundreds of thousands of others who are doing an excellent job.
“I have no teeth to smile to protect a teacher who canes a child,” Magoha said.
On the 100 per cent transition policy, Magoha said the biggest challenge for the government was the sustainability of the policy.
He said the government was bending over backward to ensure there is enough infrastructure to cater for the number of students who transit from primary schools to secondary schools.
The CS told parents the government will not allow dropout cases for whatever reason.
The government, he noted, will do whatever it can to ensure that the children remain in school.
“I strongly believe the 100 per cent transition policy is feasible and is going to succeed. Nothing is going to stop government from achieving and maintaining 100 per cent transition,” Magoha said.
edited by peter obuya