Learning Kenyanese

• Pre-MOCK Violence

  Posted: July 23, 2008, 3:08 pm by willpress

  The past few weeks have not been the best period to become a High School principal in Kenya. The entire secondary school administration system in the country is practically under siege as students all over the country are on a rampage. The casualties so far: close to 200 schools closing indefinitely and a student from Upper Hill High School dead after a dormitory fire. The government, as usual has been caught flat-footed. In fact, it took the Upper Hill incident to startle Sam Ongeri, Minister for Education, out of his swivel chair to gather his boys in a rush to "assess the gravity of the situation". And indeed, it is grave.
  
  These chilling (exciting to some) events have sparked a wave of paranoia among school heads. St. Georges has appently been closed indefinitely following what some students call "a practical joke" on their teachers.
  
  More baffling is the fact that a random Commission of Inquiry will be set up to look into the student unrest. We all know Commisions of Inquiry are a way for corrupt vile people to gain publicity (ask Pattni or the Arturs) to the level of even being a political launch pad and also a waste of taxpayer's mulas since the resolutions passed never go past the ink and paper. Meanwhile, the striking students, unchanged and perhaps having regained more arsonist vigour, will be back when the schools re-open. Even if the the ring leaders are expelled, like suicide bombers, they will have left behind a legacy and disciples who will only be too willing to join the pipeline of infamy. Matyrdom is that sexy, i tell you. There has been no outright attempt as to establishing the cause of this pandemonium from the students themselves. What we have now is a throng of "education experts" (who were only last week wearing the tag "political analyst"), school heads and under-motivated DEOs flapping they gum endlessly on KTN and NTV.
  
  The governments response tempts me release a string of laughter challenging the recent longest laugh record on Ripley's. A report released yesterday by KBC, reeking of Government boot-lick Alfred Mutua's input, is quick to attribute the riots to the fiasco of the 2007 KCSE exam results where KNEC was pissing in its pants when "computer errors" awarded D+s to born geniuses and such like HUMAN errors.
  
  Hon. Sam Ongeri's take is different. These kids are just being spoilt brats, he says. In yesterday's ministerial statement, he ordered that students be banned from handling cellphones in school, and banned the purchase of buses with DVDs and TV screens. Clearly these statements presents the current paradox. . .people who have not been in school uniform in the past ten years purpoting to run Education in this country. Am yet to hear a statement from the Youth Ministry. . . Oh well, guess they are asleep until reminded that its the youth who occupy these schools.
  
  I believe the issues lie deeper than jus the fear of MOCK exams or last year's results.
  
  This is an outward manifestation of a paradigm shift in society. The first question should be what has changed in schools from the primbottom discipline of the colonial days through to the 70s to the chaos it is today? Are High Schools stuck in a time capsule while outside its walls society keeps changing? Are we approaching education all wrong in this day and age?
  Let me continue to ponder.
  
  In a related story, I couldnt hide my joy on learning that my former school, Maseno was the first school to riot in 1908. But then the joy died down as it hit me that that was also the last time we had ever gone on strike. Gosh, what a shame! Pioneers but not lifetime achievers! By now we should have come up with an entire book on the methods and strategies of going on strike. . .that must have been one hellova beating they got in 1908 to elicit 100 years of. . .umm. . .discipline. So much for a bad record!

Blah blah blah

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