As the wave of arson attacks and violent student unrest forced the indefinite closure of nearly 80 secondary schools countrywide, the learners of Migori Boys Senior School have chosen a different path.
Refusing to join a destructive trend that has pushed Kenya’s education system to a near crisis point, the students organized a massive, peaceful demonstration within their school compound to firmly condemn the vandalism tearing through neighboring institutions.
Holding placards promoting messages of peace, academic discipline, and responsible citizenship, the young men marched deliberately alongside faculty members.
The demonstration peaked at the main assembly ground, where school administrators and student leaders delivered a series of powerful speeches aimed at changing the national narrative around student grievances.
A Plea for vulnerable peers
Addressing the media,the Class of Form 3 Director, Samuel Omondi, questioned the long term impact of arson on students from less privileged backgrounds.
“As Migori Boys, we feel that the burning of schools is not supposed to be part of us,” Omondi said.
“We all know there are many sponsored students in our schools. Have you ever thought of what they go through after you burn their properties in the dorm, or after turning dorms into graves? We are all here to learn and not to burn.”
Austin Obadia, the Deputy President of the student body, echoed these sentiments, highlighting the immediate collateral damage of school fires.
“Many of our students come from poor backgrounds. When we burn dormitories, they lose their mattresses and boxes, causing immense suffering. Most of us are sponsored by people we don’t even know. If we burn their properties, what actual gain do we get?”
Another student Bruce Otieno pointed out the immense financial strain placed back onto families who are already struggling to make ends meet in a harsh economic climate.
“The fact is, the burning of schools lies within the student. It is the student who burns the school, and it is the student who suffers,” Otieno noted.
“Mostly, the burdens are thrown to the parents, which really pains.
“Some of these students go through difficulties just to get a meal during holidays. As a Migori Boys family, we have decided that this issue cannot and will not affect us.”
Cost of arson
The crisis has already exacted a heavy toll. Destructive rioting has recently reduced dormitories and classes to ashes in prominent institutions such as Loreto Girls Limuru, Lenana School, Moi Girls Nairobi, Sironga Girls, and Kisii School.
Tensions reached a boiling point following a horrific dormitory fire at Utumishi Academy in Gilgil that tragically claimed the lives of 16 students, intensifying pressure from teacher unions and political leaders to abruptly close all schools for an early midterm break.
Migori Boys High School Chief Principal, Jared Pondo, expressed immense pride in the maturity shown by his students, but issued a stern warning regarding the broader academic fallout.
He noted that the ongoing wave of strikes across Kenya will have a direct, negative impact on the upcoming Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) performance.
“Definitely, the moment Form Fours stay out of school, learning and teaching cannot go on,” Mr Pondo warned.
“We have a syllabus that must be covered within a given timeframe. Staying outside will definitely affect performance at the KCSE level.”
Furthermore, school principals across the region have reinforced warnings that an arson record results in automatic blacklisting and severe legal consequences, permanently damaging future university admissions and career opportunities.
Government stance
Despite widespread anxiety and mounting pressure for an emergency calendar review, the government has maintained an unyielding position.
Basic Education Principal Secretary, Professor Julius Bitok, strictly ruled out any unscheduled closure of schools, asserting that 99 percent of the country’s 52,000 learning institutions are running safely and normally, with disturbances restricted to less than one percent.
Speaking in Murang’a County, the Principal Secretary issued a stern warning to rogue students, stating that any individual caught participating in arson or vandalism will face the full force of the law and criminal prosecution.
However, the Ministry of Education is also attempting to address the root causes of the panic.
PS Bitok acknowledged that severe examination pressure, specifically from upcoming county-level mock exams and continuous assessment tests, has been a primary trigger for the widespread student anxiety.
To defuse the tension without altering the school calendar, the Principal Secretary ordered school heads and Boards of Management to be highly flexible, advising them to temporarily postpone tests rather than force unprepared learners into exam rooms and risk a burnt down institution.
He emphasized that today’s generation of students cannot be governed with an iron fist, urging administrators to prioritize open dialogue and modern counseling over rigid coercion.
Dialogue and parenting
The school’s Boarding Master, Patrick Sikoi, highly praised the student leadership for approaching the administration with the initiative to publicly condemn the nationwide strikes.
Advicing other institutions on how to curb the unrest, Mr Sikoi emphasized that the secret lies in continuous engagement and active guidance and counseling departments.
“Curbing this requires us to embrace dialogue. In our case, our Principal has been talking to the boys regularly. We listen to them, and they listen to us,” Mr Sikoi stated.
