This archive report was first published on 12 January 2020.
Published on January 12, 2020, a tragic incident in Kitui, Kenya, left the nation in shock. A group of parents, armed with machetes, stormed a local school, seeking to attack the head of the institution over poor performance in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations.
When they failed to find the school head, they turned their anger on a teacher who had brought her children to school. The teacher was brutally attacked and set on fire, leaving behind a trail of destruction and despair.
This incident is not an isolated case. In recent years, there have been several instances of parents physically assaulting teachers for flimsy reasons, including poor performance in national examinations.
As Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Moi University School of Medicine, Lukoye Atwoli, points out, 'We are a country that long ago accepted violence as the primary means of solving our problems.' This mindset is deeply ingrained in our culture, where physical punishment is often seen as an effective way to discipline children.
However, research has shown that this approach is not only ineffective but also has potentially harmful effects on the mental health of those on the receiving end. It is time for Kenyans to rethink their approach to discipline and violence, and to prioritize a more humane and compassionate approach to education.
As Atwoli notes, 'If a collection of citizens can carry machetes to their children's school and kill and incinerate a teacher without any serious consequences for them, then we are nothing but just a bunch of barbarians on the loose.'
