No demo, relief to learners
Boda boda riders drive through teargas smoke after police dispersed protesting youths in Shinyalu, Kakamega County on Friday, July 7, 2023.
The recent political confrontation between the government and the opposition negatively affected learners’ education in the affected regions, considering that most learners in primary and secondary schools are day scholars.
The decision by the Azimio coalition leadership to call off this week’s Wednesday-to-Friday protest brought a great sigh of relief to teachers and learners, especially in the hugely affected regions.
The ugly violent confrontation between the police and protesters forced parents to withhold their children from going to school for fear of their safety lest the minors were caught up in the crossfire.
Learning has been interrupted five times this second term, which began on May 8, with last week’s three of the five learning days wasted. Other institutions across the country continued with learning.
Teachers in the affected areas will now be forced to rush the syllabus so that their learners can catch up with the rest of the pupils, That will result in ineffective learning, hence poor academic performance.
This comes as learners and teachers are yet to fully recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused prolonged closure of the institutions.
Lobbing of teargas canisters into learning institutions by the police is, perhaps, the ugliest part of the demonstrations.
Such actions are not only reckless but unnecessary because they can lead to physical injury as a result of the ensuing stampede among learners. Other effects include emotional and psychological trauma that may take a long time to cure.
The place of children is in school. Keeping them away due to a political disagreement exposes them to danger from sex predators and drug peddlers. Such harm is likely to cause a permanent dent in their lives; some could drop out of school.
Politicians should learn to settle their differences through constitutional and peaceful means so that children can have their time in school and achieve their academic and personal dreams unhindered.
- Mr Chumo is a physics teacher at Moi Girls Eldoret. [email protected]
