Unrest
Education stakeholders and security officers in Tharaka Nithi County have held a consultative meeting to address and find solutions to reported cases of unrest and arson in schools, witnessed recently across the country.
The meeting that involved a representation from the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA), Ministry of Education Officials, National Government and Security Officers from the county, was convened at Kathituni Day and Boarding Primary School in Chuka, to seek the much-needed solutions against the menace.
Tharaka Nithi KESSHA Chairman Robert Njagi, while briefing the media on the meeting’s resolutions noted the importance of counselling and guidance in schools against the destruction of institution property, calling on a multi-sectoral approach that involves all relevant stakeholders in guiding the students towards the right code of conduct.
“We have agreed that all stakeholders be tasked with counselling the students to see that property, which has taken resources and time to construct are safeguarded. Let us protect infrastructure as we hope to grow our institutions because it only takes a short time to destroy what has been built over the years. We hope for peace and calm in our schools and that this meeting will bear fruits to see indiscipline is weeded out,” he said.
County Director of Education Bridget Wambua asked school heads to be vigilant of any suspicious activity and behavior to neutralize issue before damage is done and insisted on Principals having sessions with their students to address issues that are affecting them and which may lead to unrest.
“We have had an opportunity to speak to the principals and we have resolved to ensure there are no more school strikes in the remaining part of the term. We also ask for more teacher-student engagements to address issues as they arise to avert cases of arson and strikes in our schools,” she said.
O his part, the County Commissioner (CC) David Gitonga confirmed that three cases of school unrest had already been witnessed in the area, and warned against misinformation over social media, tasking journalists with the responsibility of countering false narratives.
“Social media is being used to spread propaganda and fake news and is one of the main causes of fueling unrest in other schools. There has been a lot of misinformation, and we ask the media to counter such information by giving the correct and accurate reporting to ensure turbulence does not spread to other schools,” he said.