Untill When??

By OPANDA Christine

As last year’s form four students wait eagerly for the release of the results which will be done on Monday 29th February 2016; things are heating up in Vihiga County. Teachers at Keveye Girls Secondary School in Vihiga County were filmed canning students mercilessly.
The government had banned corporal punishment, particularly canning, in schools in 2002. This rule only seemed to have worked in school found in the city, Nairobi, but not in the interior parts of the country. Students who learnt from these parts especially Western and Nyanza can attest to this.
In those parts canning never stopped, in fact it got worse. Some schools up to now have specific places where the canning takes place, nicknamed as “slaughter house” or even “suffering square”.
A report revealed the students lined up like cows in a slaughter house, terrified as they wait for their turn to be beaten. The footage which was posted on Facebook on Tuesday shows four teachers, standing in line and heavily canning the students in the school’s staffroom. The learners are then passed over to yet another teacher waiting at the door for more canning.
Education Cabinet Secretary, Dr Matiang’i who made an impromptu visit to Keveye Girls on Thursday morning, said he was compelled by media reports about heavy canning of students in Western Kenya. The CS ordered for a swift disciplinary action against the teachers.
The question remains what form of punishment is appropriate in schools because both reward and punishment are forms of shaping behavior of an individual. Most teachers believe in canning because they either excelled because of canning or they are not aware of other forms of punishment such as punishment through naturalism.
  Since assuming office in November, Dr Matiang’i has taken the ministry by storm; visiting institutions and holding school heads to account on site, tough talks on school fees and responsibilities in schools. The matter of corporal punishment is still an issue that should be taken into deep consideration, especially in the prominent places that happens, Western Kenya.