At the height of the Mau Mau struggle which the British colonial administrators had declared a terrorist group, the Nairobi School, then called the Prince of Wales, started a cadet training course on paramilitary standards for students in the school.
When they completed form six, the Kenya Regiment cadets could join the armed forces as officer cadets and most likely help in curbing the Mau Mau ‘menace’. Students in Kenyan secondary schools could in these times of terrorist attacks be given defensive training, but given the nature of Kenya’s polarised politics and the status of the country’s socio-economic engagement, paramilitary training may not be the option. “You have to be extremely cautious at what level you introduce paramilitary training, if you have to,” argues Peter Aling’o, the head of the Institute of Security Studies regional office in Nairobi.
The government through the ministry of devolution has indicated that high school students would in the near future be required to undergo a paramilitary course before joining universities and colleges, as a measure to counter terrorism. Such a programme existed in the Moi era between 1978 and 1990, but was scrapped when university students started using the partial military training to counter the police during internal and political riots and demonstrations. “As our democracy is not consolidating in a good way, the training could be used as a weapon, avenue or platform for indoctrination. You can only try this if you have a solid democracy and the government could provide socio-economic cushioning for the graduates.”
Aling’o however advocates for training in alertness, awareness and responsiveness so that the school communities could immediately respond in situations of insecurity or emergency and mitigate and help reduce casualties and get out of the situation. “There is a sense of bravery which comes when you know what to do and if for example the students in Garissa University had been trained in these, they could have organised themselves for defense and hence minimised the casualties.”
At the primary and lower levels, martial arts and other physical skills development could be introduced and taken seriously and these could be used as forms of defence. “The only games Kenyans take seriously is football, rugby and athletics because there is money there, but physical exercises that make somebody fit and quick to respond are left to a few who do it as hobby.”
On independence, the cadet course section at the Nairobi School that had uniforms, guns, ammunition, an armoury, a shooting range and a parade ground with adjacent stores and offices continued to exist, but this was stopped by the government after the unsuccessful 1982 coup d’état, in the fear that it could become the breeding ground for trained rebels.
In the face of terrorist attacks, in particular the Garissa University massacre, various government and non-governmental agencies have called for security education in schools, but it is not clear what form this would take. What however is clear is that in terms of security, learning institutions in Kenya are among the most neglected.
“Very few schools have CCTV systems or security checks and so you get in and out of schools unhindered. The guards are just interested to know whether you are a parent or a ‘visitor’ and they never check what you have in your car,” says Alingo. He says the most vulnerable are kindergartens, public primary schools and the mushrooming academies, where criminals can get in and out at will through various weak spots.
The security expert calls for a more secure logging system in schools for entry and exit and for a way to check even the students as the terrorist organisations are now recruiting even within the students’ community. “The ages of the kind of people they are recruiting are going lower and lower and we should not be surprised if they start recruiting those we least suspect especially children between the ages of seven and 15.”
The other cause for worry is the massive return of street children especially in Nairobi. This provides a fertile breeding ground for radicalisation. “These children could easily be trained, provided with school uniform and given bags containing explosives to take to the schools where checks are not taken seriously.”
Aling’o advises the education cabinet secretary to start talking to managers of education institutions on the need to take security more seriously given the existing vulnerability. Entry and exit to schools should be monitored at level of students, teachers, other staff and all visitors. “Rented transport should also be closely monitored and drivers, teachers and other staff be trained on alertness.”
Specific programmes and curricula should be developed to focus on security and safety in schools generally and in particular to the threat of terrorism. “The government, school boards, parents and students must focus on awareness of the situation they are in and once they are aware about their situation, they then will look into what should be done and how.”
Curricula would have to be developed for the various levels as the targets are not the same mentally.
“This is something the government should have started thinking about as early as 1998 when we had the first major terrorist attack. After 9/11 America took the matter seriously and this has paid dividends, as did other countries in Europe and the Middle East. We unfortunately are socialised to react”.
Options including such extra ordinary measures as were taken by the British colonial government in converting Nairobi School from boarding to day school for fear of it being bombed by the Italians at one stage during the Second World War could also be explored.
The security expert also has a problem with the training of Kenyan police officers which, he says, is just focused on physical fitness and gun handling instead using intelligence and specialised training, something that is constantly being applied by the terrorist groups.
“We only expose those who guard the VIPs comprehensive training, but for the others, it is all about, ‘left, right, left, right’ the whole day.”