• Kaloki said he backs Magoha’s call for the reintroduction of caning in schools
• Magoha made the call in the wake of school fires and attacks on teachers
Image: Musembi Nzengu
A caning advocate from Kitui county has backed Education CS George Magoha's call to reintroduce the measure to tame student unrest.
Nicholas Kaloki is a former high school teacher who in 2006 challenged in court a 2001 gazette notice by then Education Minister Kalonzo Musyoka banning caning.
Speaking to the Star on the phone, the now private counsellor said he is impressed that Magoha had seen the need to have corporal punishment back in school.
“Just like Magoha, I advocated for restoration of corporal punishment in schools, but only a standard cane that cannot cause learners injuries must be used,” Kaloki said.
Magoha made the call that kicked off a storm on January 28 at St Joseph’s Nyabururu Primary School in Kisii county in the wake of burning of a number of schools by students and attacks on teachers.
The Education boss said caning would help reduce indiscipline in schools. “Learners will not commit crimes and walk away smoothly. They must be caned, and we will allow the teachers to punish them,” Magoha said.
On Monday, Kaloki said he had seen the need for corporal punishment in schools way back in 2006, just a few years after the 2001 ban. And that Magoha had similarly “woken up to the reality” that caning in schools is necessary to stem indiscipline.
“When I filed a case in Machakos High Court in 2006, seeking the return of corporal punishment in schools, I was within the law. The law allows reasonable punishment for children,” the counsellor said.
Kaloki had sought an order for the use of a standardised cane. Learners would be caned by head teachers, their deputies or any other teacher but through written authority. The caning was to be approved in writing by the errant learner’s parent or guardian.
Although the High Court judge ordered for an out-of-court agreement between him and the Education ministry, Kaloki laments that the agreement to return the cane to schools on the outlined terms was never actualised.
His view is contradicted by counsellors in Kirinyaga, who said violence seldom cures violence. They urged the state to introduce counselling departments in schools to arrest unruliness, violence and arson.
"We want qualified counsellors posted to schools as they have the ability to tackle and change students’ psychological behaviour," their representative Rose Wachira said.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers has also vowed to reject the reintroduction of corporal punishment in schools, saying it will create conflicts between teachers and learners.
Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion said the government should instead post police officers in all the schools to implement order.
The unionists also called on the government to abolish all boarding schools to allow parents to take their rightful place in disciplining their children.
Edited by T Jalio