Secondary School Strikes: Grand Coalition Government Courts More Disaster

It has been fascinating researching into the real causes of the current wave of school strikes that has left many Kenyans numb with shock. The first thing we have realized is just how complex the problem is. The truth is that those looking for a single reason to heap all the blame on will be disappointed because there are actually a number of reasons that have led to the current crisis. However many of them are related.
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Fascinatingly, despite the fact that we are now told that over 300 schools countrywide have been involved in strikes, few Kenyans realize just how serious the problem is. For instance many do not know that in the course of this term alone Upper Hill School students have been on strike twice. The unrest that led to the death of a student was the second one. And so has Sunshine School in Langata.

It is interesting how the local media which has rushed to talk to teachers has generally heaped all the blame on parents who are said to dumb their unruly children in school and leave them to “terrorize” teachers. Surely how can this be true when youngsters spend most of their time at school (a minimum of 9 months out of 12). Would the reverse not be a little more accurate in that teachers who have mostly despaired in many schools across the country are molding the kind of youngster who end up terrorizing parents whenever they are at home. But having said that it is not a smart thing for all the blame to be heaped on any one party. Both share responsibility and it is supposed to be a team effort. Sadly these days, rather than co-operation the two key groups are busy mostly fighting and second-guessing each other at most schools, my investigation has revealed.

From my 3 day investigation I am forced to announce that the number one reason for the current problems in schools is that teachers have mostly abandoned their responsibilities in schools and are too busy trying to make extra money. While it is true that there are various other factors that have contributed to the current crisis including the withdrawal of the cane without an adequate discipline system to replace it, the truth is that if teachers were on the job, they would have sounded the alarm long before the first can of petrol was purchased to burn down anything.

What has in fact happened is that teachers have despaired and are only in schools to do the bear minimum to enable them earn their salaries so that they can re-invest in all kinds of enterprises that occupy their mind and indeed most of their time. There is nothing wrong with a teacher being enterprising, the only problem is that teaching is the kind of profession that does not work with anything less than total dedication.

The reaction of the government to the wave of strikes is bound to make the situation worse. As usual they have rushed to address the symptoms (so that they are seen to be doing something) and nobody is interested in digging out the root cause of this unprecedented crisis. That is why the ministry has banned DVD and CD players in school buses (what does that have to do with the problem?). Indeed they have also opted to charge as many of the students as possible in courts. While I agree that no mercy should be shown to arsonists, the reality is that quite a number of innocent students will get a chance to mix with hard criminals in police cells and you can be sure that they will never be the same again.

A more productive approach would be to start with the teachers and ask them where they were when the students planned and launched their attacks. This will hopefully lead to teachers admitting about their current state of despair which will in turn lead to the issue of the cane (which must be re-introduced). This will be much more useful than banning music in school buses and locking up barely legal youngsters.

P.S. 1 :

In your weekend special this Saturday: How prominent Kenyans made their money. Kenyans worship money and they really don’t care how their leaders made their cash as long as they have plenty of it so that during election campaigns, they can distribute Kshs 50 or even Kshs 5 to voters (when some of them have stolen thousands from each individual Kenyan countrywide). For those interested in the way in which these wealthy well known Kenyans made their money my detailed series of articles this weekend will amaze and surely disgust you. Dump your girl friend or boyfriend for yours truly this weekend (I promise not to disappoint). And let’s meet right here in your one and only Kumekucha Weekend special.

P.S. 2

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P.S. 3

I appeal to regular readers of Kumekucha to remain on high alert and to refuse to be taken in by common trickery, especially in the so-called comments in this blog (and I am NOT talking about the ones coming in from a mental asylum in Spain). I have visited every single blog and web site reporting Kenyan news and I can authoritatively tell you that no other site invites more criticism than this one. But why? Just ask yourself the simple question; why don’t these “unhappy readers” move elsewhere instead of spending the whole day here trying to prove that our articles are either NOT factual or that (this is the latest one) I am recycling old Kumekucha articles. There was an especially amusing incident 2 days ago when some well-trained-in-propaganda-techniques-Kenyan pounced on a single statement in an authentic email I reproduced here, talking about photographs, to suggest that the personal account on a sexual assault by the Kenya police was pure fiction. Co-incidentally on the same day the Daily Nation carried an article (with much less details) confirming that the assault actually took place.

It is also fascinating that the attacks are mainly focused on articles that I write myself and not so much on the other contributors. Some of this chaps lack reading skills because they also pounce on guest posts written by others that I post myself. Anything with Chris’ name at the bottom is earmarked for scrutiny with the intention to attack.

Heheheheheheehe. I know you guys are terribly worried at what I know. Lakini pole sana, I have no intention of holding anything back from my dear readers. So… bring it on!!

I am not one to brag but there is only one possible explanation as to why Kumekucha is the most attacked Kenyan blog on earth. Folks, they fear us too much and with good reason. Keep it here and if you are easily confused by clever propagandists, just skip the comments area and read the posts only and then wait for as long as 2 months for the story to break in other media.