• Counselling and career guidance will help students appreciate the value of education for their future and reduce unrest.
• Open discussion among teachers, parents and learners encouraged to understand and resolve grievances.
Image: FILE
Learning institutions should have effective counselling and career guidance programmes so students shun violence and concentrate on studies.
Rift Valley regional director of education Jared Obiero said the current wave of unrest in schools has resulted in major property destruction.
This behaviour, he said, could be reduced by helping learners appreciate that schools are the foundation for their future.
He addressed an education stakeholders forum on schools unrest, security and safety.
“We need to inculcate values making them understand they actually own the education infrastructure some of their rogue colleagues have been destroying," he said.
Effective guidance and counselling programme are a mechanism to preempt unrest, Obiero said.
He said parents’ attitudes towards unrest were a big determinant of whether the disruptions would increase or subside.
Obiero said only a small percentage of students are bad, noting that a larger percentage are very good and are willing to learn.
“This unrest and acts of arson are triggered by a very small segment of learners. I have sampled most institutions and found systems running perfectly.
"In fact, the children were so confident in their institution that some wanted to remain in school, even when given mid-term leave," Obiero said.
Students countrywide have been on a rampage in public schools, destroying dormitories, classrooms, laboratories and other structures. Though they are a minority, the damage is massive.
The regional education director called on parents and teachers to be role models for children.
“We cannot just sit helplessly and wait for our salvation to come from nowhere, we must take steps to help us protect our institutions," Obiero said.
Deputy county director of the TSC, Boniface Okumu, urged parents to spend quality time with their children to understand their challenges. They should encourage them to work hard in school, he said.
Okumu said parents and teachers should have open and free discussions with students to learn, understand and resolve their grievances
In 2016 an investigative team identified administrative flaws, criminal practices and oversights that sparked student unrest. It cited possible systematic failure by a number of stakeholders, and came up with recommendations o avert student unrest.
The report said students will soon be integrated in society and if the problems that cause school unrest are not resolved, they will spill over into adult life. They will resort to violence and arson again.
If issues are not addressed, the current crisis gives a glimpse into the future and the calibre of individuals likely to shape society, it said.
(Edited by V. Graham)