Schools open this week for Term 3, the shortest and when candidates write national examinations, specifically Form 4, and the pioneer Grade 9, who will join university and senior school respectively.
Some schools were shut a few days before official end of Term 2, following isolated incidents of unrest, so journalists should report how back-to-school is shaping up in those learning institutions.
This should include finding out whether those schools that were affected have restored the necessary infrastructure, and whether the learners are now settled in mind, ready to concentrate and pick up from where they left.
The Standard in the story, ‘Why schools are shaken by wave of unrest,’ published on July 22, 2025, quoted the National Parents Association chairman Silas Obuhatsa urging the government to intervene and restore order and harmony.
“We need urgent reforms, counseling, and clear grievance-resolution initiatives before we lose a generation to frustration and fire,” the Standard reported Obuhatsa as saying, adding, the aggravator of the protests was grievances ignored for too long.
The Standard further reported that sexual abuse allegations, exam pressure, corruption, and harsh disciplinary measures were some of the issues raised by students.
Education officials were quoted in the media as saying they believed the incidents reflected broader frustrations related to pressure from national exams, dissatisfaction with school meals, and mental health challenges.
The media should probe the Ministry of Education’s preparedness to offer educationists the support needed to enable schools navigate through Term 3 peacefully without unsettling incidents.
The schools unrest came barely a month after the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association meeting in June, where concerns were raised about strained finances in running public schools, especially inadequate and often delayed government capitation. Journalists should follow the school funding matter to its conclusion.
In reaction to the concerns raised, the Standard in a story published on July 24, 2025, quoted Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba attributing the unrest to exam anxiety.
Headlined, ‘Exam pressure, cash crisis ignite fresh wave of unrest in schools,’ the Standard further reported the CS stating that the Education ministry had advised head teachers and field officers to work closely with students to offer them support and reassurance.
Has this been executed? Journalists should probe the Education ministry, whose professionals include education psychologists, on policies that could support the changing dynamics in the modern learning institutional set-up. This could help the teachers and students live within an environment where there is a positive understanding of modern challenges, preventing volatile cases of indiscipline and chaos in school.
Equally important, journalists should follow up on the support given to principals to ensure peaceful co-existence between students and administration that will maintain the necessary harmony for learning at all times.
