Civil society organisations under the Elimu Yetu Coalition have described the escalating wave of school unrest as a national disaster and called for reforms to halt a crisis.
The education stakeholders, at the same time, unanimously called for honest reflection on whether the boarding school model, as currently structured, remained viable and, if not, what reforms were needed to safeguard every learner’s right to education.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum held in Mombasa, coalition representatives warned that treating the unrest, which has seen schools suffer huge losses due to acts of arson, purely as a disciplinary matter was erroneous, urging the government to confront the deeper systemic failures driving students to the edge.
Joseph Wasikhongo, National Coordinator of the Elimu Yetu Coalition, said the crisis was a symptom of entrenched problems including overcrowding, poor learner welfare, academic pressure, inadequate parental engagement, mental health challenges, and bullying.
“We do not lack policies, we do not lack guidelines, and we do not lack structures within the school setting. The critical challenge is to answer this question: are these structures operational, and are we implementing the policies we have?” Wasikhongo posed.
He outlined immediate practical interventions, among them students breaking for half-term immediately, allowing learners unsuited to boarding environments to be excused, and activating existing support structures under the Guidance and Counselling Policy of 2023 and the Safety Standards Manual of 2008.
He also called on the Ministry of Education to urgently convene national and county-level forums bringing together administrators, teachers, parents, learners, and civil society to find solutions to school unrest.
Wasikhongo cautioned against a blanket portrayal of learners as troublemakers, noting that while bad characters existed within the crisis, they did not represent the majority of students.
“Let us not push ourselves into the corner of looking at every single learner as a potential danger to our institutions. The crisis may appear simple, but it is complex,” he said.
He also singled out delayed and inadequate school capitation as an immediate, correctable trigger of unrest in schools, urging the government to disburse enough funds to schools on time.
On his part, Hari Mambo, representing Coast Region Stakeholders under the Elimu Yetu Coalition, echoed similar sentiments and called for inclusive consultations, insisting that both students and parents should be given genuine space to participate in finding solutions.
“Students must be given space in these discussions to speak for themselves and express what they think should be done to improve their education,” Mambo said, adding that schools should be granted a temporary break during consultations to ensure any solution carried broad ownership.
John Dhadho, Chairperson of NGOs in Tana River County and the Coast Counties Forum, raised concern over the quality of counseling being deployed in schools, arguing that religious studies teachers were ill-equipped for the role.
By Mary Mtawa and Joshua Peter
