• Bishop said innocent children not party to arson and violence should not be liable for any legal action or other disciplines. Parents should not pay.
• Called for independent chaplains in all boarding schools, not hired by the TSC, so students can discuss their problems.
Image: DICKENS WASONGA
An Anglican bishop has called on the Education ministry to convene an urgent national conference to discuss school unrest and arson.
Bishop David Kodia of the Bondo diocese on Saturday said the time has come for an all-stakeholders forum to review cases of school indiscipline countrywide.
He told the Star in a telephone interview the conference would give Kenyans the opportunity to come up with a home-grown mechanism for disciplining errant children.
The bishop said innocent children who are not party to the acts of arson should not be made liable to any legal or other action.
It is also wrong for parents of innocent children to be forced to pay for the damage caused by other children, he said.
"Students with cases of severe indiscipline should not be allowed in any boarding school, private or public," Kodia said. " Let's all come together and address the myriad issues bedeviling our institutions of learning," he said.
Prof Kodia said education that does not incorporate systematic and moral aspects of discipline is a recipe for chaos in the society.
"Aping Western culture is a mockery of our own culture," Kodia said. The ACK bishop said that even the Bible advocates discipline for any offending child or adult.
He said the present culture has produced and protected indiscipline.
"We have gone to the extent where the Ministry of Education is intoxicated with tough talk without results-orientated mechanisms to correct the errors," he said.
He said parents have been blamed in the past due to indiscipline of their children without the right of reply.
Kodia said teachers, on the other hand, have been warned against taking disciplinary action, even in a case of glaring misbehavior. He proposedall schools should be fitted with CCTVs.
We take exception to our education policy that appears to put more premium on the rights of the child than the rights of the parent or the teacher to instil discipline.ACK Bishop David Kodia
"Government should invest in intelligence work in collaboration with school management to enhance investigation as well as preventive measures," he said.
He recommended a policy of full-time chaplaincy be developed so every boarding school has a ministry-supported chaplain, independent of the Teachers Service Commission.
Kodia said most schools with full-time chaplains give students an opportunity to air their problems.
The emergence of indiscipline in schools, especially public boarding schools evokes a community whose deepest sense of morality and ethical values has been sacrificed on the altar of cheap western views on child rights, he said.
"We take exception to our education policy that appears to put more premium on the rights of the child than the rights of the parent or the teacher to instil discipline," the bishop said.
"We appear to condone impunity among this generation of future leaders and whatever remnants of good ones we have would still find it difficult to govern such a generation," he said.
"The burning of school dormitories is not new in Kenya since the inception of the Bill of Rights, which virtually left issues of discipline to none other then the students themselves," he said.
The country has again been afflicted with a spate of arson in school dormitories. A number of students have been arrested and arraigned. In Nyanza, top schools like Maranda High School have been affected. The latest fire was reported at St Mary's School Yala in Siaya county.
One of the cubicles at Grace Ogot dormitory was burnt on Thursday night. No one was hurt but belongings were reduced to ashes.
(Edited by V. Graham)