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Weeks after 16 girls died in a fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, experts say Kenya is still asking the wrong question about student unrest.
The tragedy is the latest in a long pattern. The Ministry of Education reported 126 incidents of school arson between January and November 2020 alone, with researchers linking the fires to student protests over harsh discipline, poor food and substandard living conditions.
Speaking on Spice FM on Tuesday, June 9, Janet Ouko, Executive Director of the Tunza Mtoto Coalition, said schools, parents and policymakers must create environments where students feel heard, rather than reach for punitive responses.
"We need to start having conversations from the child's perspective, and we must stop gaslighting children when they are placed in environments with no channels of communication and then dismissed when they try to speak through behaviour," said Ouko.
