The ministry of education has issued fresh orders to teachers and school heads to be liberal and allow students to go home whenever they seek permission. According to the orders, the students should only come back to school when they are want to.

Basic Education Principal Secretary (PS) Julius Jwan said school heads should desist from restraining learners who want to go home as long as the process is done properly.

This, he noted will end unrest in schools. The PS was Speaking at Nyambaria Boys and Sironga Girls in Nyamira County, where he warned principals against disobeying the government directive to allow students to go home.

“Just allow any learner who wants to go home to leave the school and let no one bar them. Let them go home and burn their parents’ houses but not schools,” he told the principals.

He said some learners travel long distances to attend schools in other far-flung areas, warning that it was unfair for a few to burn schools denying those interested in learning the opportunity.

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The PS was inspecting the ongoing construction of Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) classrooms in the two schools in Nyamira.

Jwan said the government is committed to promoting basic education and told off those criticising the ongoing establishment of junior secondary school learning facilities in high schools.

The PS lauded the CBC model of learning, noting that the ongoing establishment of facilities in schools would go on.

“The government is committed to achieving the CBC model of learning that is why we have started the process of ensuring our institutions have such facilities for the betterment of our children who will be starting the CBC model of learning,” Juan said.

He further called for cooperation from all the education stakeholders to ensure the success of CBC in the various schools across the country.

“There is no achievement that can be done without all of us joining hands for the better of our students.

All we need to do is come together and do everything we can to help our children adopt the CBC model,” he said.

KPSA has accused senior education officials of making ‘knee-jerk’ solutions to the crisis in schools, citing the push to restore the cane as a disciplinary measure.

Speaking after Cabinet secretaries George Magoha (Education) and Fred Matiang’i (Interior) urged the return of corporal punishment in efforts to restore discipline in learning institutions, private schools say the solution lies with the Ministry of Education.

They say officials need to decongest crowded public schools as a first step to easing the pressure on the institutions, which they say could help avert and contain unrest.

They also called for a national conversation on the emerging issues attributed to student conduct, as opposed to pushing for the return of the cane.

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They spoke as stakeholders in the education sector continued to give mixed reactions to calls by Prof Magoha and Dr Matiang’i to reintroduce corporal punishment in schools.

The two, speaking in Kisii on Monday, said the cane would be one way of restoring discipline and order in schools, citing themselves as good examples of the value of caning children.

They also called for a national conversation on parenting, noting that parents have failed to instil discipline in their children, hiding behind a human-rights argument.

“We cannot afford to have students running amok in schools unchecked. We cannot afford to have thugs in schools in the name of human rights,” Prof Magoha had said.

Dr Matiang’i said that the human-rights argument has been hyped at the expense of children’s future when it comes to discipline.

But according to Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA), schools are overcrowded and available resources are strained, resulting in infrastructural and administrative problems that are fueling chaos in schools.

Mr Charles Ochome, the new national chairman of KPSA, an umbrella body for private education institutions, including pre-primary, primary, secondary, and teacher-training institutions, said schools are so congested that “some look like colleges with departmental heads with over 2,000 students.”

“This situation is creating pressure and that is why the government needs to decongest and place these children in private schools where there are spaces,” said Mr Ochome, who sits on the boards of some schools.

Most public schools are characterised by high student populations, affecting the teacher-to student-ratio and stretching available resources.

Mr Ochome suggested that private schools be considered for capitation to help in managing the affairs of students.

He also called on parents to guide their children well, especially during school holidays.

“This madness of burning schools is a sad affair. We were taught not to burn houses but these ones are burning down dormitories, meaning some parenting was not done right,” said Mr Ochome, who is also the director of Golden Elites schools.

He called for a thorough conversation on solutions to the unrest, saying caning might not be the silver bullet to deal with the tragedies and student behaviour.

“I am not opposing caning in schools, but we need to ask why it was banned and that is why we must have public participation bringing together all stakeholders to weigh in on how it can be implemented,” said Mr Ochome.

ODM nominated MP Wilson Sossion has called for the scrapping of boarding schools as one of the measures towards ending students’ unrest.

The former Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary-general had a view that the boarding school system is a burden to parents.

“Why are students not burning down classes or laboratories? The government should wake up and face the reality. Boarding systems are costing innocent parents a lot of money,” said Sossion.

“Boarding system should be removed and students allowed being day scholars so that we bring to an end the madness we are seeing now.”

“Unrest in schools has been witnessed since 2008 and the government should not act as if it has started happening now,” added session.

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Sossion further accused the government pretending that its not seeing this situation. He made reference to the recommendations of the Claire Amollo report, which according to him, “are gathering dust” and it time to implement them.

“The report made a raft of recommendations that should have been implemented so that unrest in schools is brought an end,” he said.

A total of 11 schools in Bomet and Kericho counties have been affected by the unrest. The latest in Bomet is Tenwek High School which was closed after a night of tension as students threatened to go on the rampage.

Others affected are Chebunyo Boys High School, Koiwa Boys’, Chebunyo Boys and Mogor Secondary School.