NAIROBI, AUGUST 24, 2018 (CISA)-Bishop Paul Kariuki, Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops Conference Commission for Education and Religious Education has appealed to parents to properly advise children as they prepare to open school next week.
The bishop decried the many cases of school unrest reported last term noting that the oncoming term is very crucial as it is the term within which candidates in both secondary and primary schools sit for their final examinations.
“We had a very successful meeting with all the principals in our Catholic sponsored schools and we have seen where we need to involve the parents and have clear guidelines on how to deal with for example those boys or girls who may interrupt the normal running of the school,” the bishop said in an interview with CISA on August 24.
According to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), the national examinations are slated to run from October 29 to November 2 for the secondary school candidates and .
“Calmness therefore in the school is key and we appeal to all the students to be very calm so that they can give their brothers and sisters an opportunity to prepare well for good performance in their national exams,” the bishop said.
He called upon the teachers to help in safeguarding and protecting the institutions from cases of school unrest by accompanying students outside the class environment.
“It is also our hope and prayer that the priests involved in the parishes close to schools to be very close with the students and have time with this young people, to visit the schools for apostolate so that they can also help this young people to remain focused in what they are doing,” the bishop said.
He further asked teachers to seek alternative ways of articulating their grievances without affecting the running of the schools.
“We appeal also to the union leaders to ensure that the student sit for the exams as scheduled by Kenya National Exam Council without interruption,” Bishop Kariuki said.
According to the Ministry of Education, a total of 107 cases of school unrests have been reported in secondary schools this year among which are 63 cases of arson, 23 cases of walk outs, eight sit-ins cases and 14 breakages.
