To close or not close boarding schools brittle
Molo Academy Secondary School students leave the school premises after the institution was closed indefinitely on November 1, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Do counties and sub-counties have the capacity to put up good day schools that will stand the test of time?
- It is true that some day schools have performed very well, beyond expectations.
The issue of boarding schools that is currently engaging the nation should be approached with care. The other day, teachers meeting in Mombasa called for the abolishment of boarding schools, bringing in the issue of parenting and schooling.
We witnessed this during those worrying days of Covid-19 when pupils and students stayed at home for almost a year. The repercussions were a bitter pill to swallow when teenage pregnancies shocked the nation. This occurrence proved parents have abdicated their roles to teachers.
No wonder, we have seen shocking events in schools in the past year. The high level of student indiscipline is a sad indicator that parents have lost control of bringing up men and women who can stand up as a just society of men and future leaders to guide Kenya to prosperity.
But can we wake up one morning and abolish boarding schools? So many things have to be considered here. For instance, do counties and sub-counties have the capacity to put up good day schools that will stand the test of time? It is highly probable that the issue of congestion and inadequate facilities in boarding schools are the reason for the indiscipline. But this is a subject that needs to be approached with a lot of care.
But it is true that some day schools have performed very well, beyond expectations. Strathmore, for instance, has a strict structure where even students have tutees who will even visit homes to see the connection between their students and parents. Is the government able to replicate this countrywide?
Parents have to up their ante to measure up with teachers where discipline is involved. We live in a very fast world with a lot of stress when it comes to fending for these children. This, however, does not mean that we stop being parents.
Ideally, day schools would be the best. The education sector should, as a forward planning policy, critically look at this issue because the teachers have spoken — and they should be heard. Over to you parents and the government.
Mr Kigo is an environment officer at the Nairobi County government. [email protected]
