Principals meet over unrest in schools in Kirinyaga County

 

Kerugoya Boys' High School dormitory after a fire 

Over 170 secondary school heads in Kirinyaga convened at Kerugoya Boys High School to discuss the recent cases of strikes affecting schools in the county.

The meeting brought together the regional director of education, Kirinyaga county security team led by county commissioner and county heads of education after two institutions: Kerugoya boys and Karia Boys, were closed indefinitely after razing down dormitories affecting normal learning.

Sabina Aroni, Central Region Director of Education, noted most of unrest in schools occurs in the second term of the school calendar adding the strikes are spontaneous while others have signs, and the principals should have a way of detecting them.

She calls upon to headteachers to be in school always and respond to student needs in diplomatic way as well include the teachers in reaching the student.

The director said nobody is implicating anybody in the unrest but in most cases the investigations have shown that there is hand of a teacher as a contributing factor.

She asked principals to allow students to have entertainment and address them using appropriate language. In some occasion Aroni noted the role of subordinate staff in unrest calling for vigilance by the school managers.

Kirinyaga County Commissioner Hussein Allasow said the back stops the principal as the chief officer in charge of the school despite many theories about source of school unrest.

Allasow noted the cases of indiscipline among the learners is major cause and the principal must understand the behavior of their students.

He expressed worries over recent cases where every time the fire is reported, the principal is out of the school noting the security team rely on principal to detect, deter the strikes in schools.

By Leonard Munene