Gem legislator Elisha Odhiambo has called for the return of corporal punishment for students in order to rein in the current indiscipline.
The Member of Parliament argued that students had gone rogue which is why the current state of unrest was being witnessed in various schools across the country.
Odhiambo noted that it was high time the Children’s Act enacted in 2001, which outlawed corporal punishment in Kenyan schools, was repealed in order to give teachers greater control over the learners.
The MP stated: “We must repeal the Children’s Act to ensure that discipline can get back to where it was before. Other than engaging our students, it is important to have a more effective way or system of disciplining the students."
[caption caption="Gem legislator Elisha Odhiambo"]
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He argued that the ban on caning in schools made students become so undisciplined to the point that they do not follow rules as they know the power to discipline has been taken away from the teachers, leaving them as mere spectators.
“If a student does something bad they must be caned. People were caned before. I am an advocate of giving teachers the power to discipline," Odhiambo remarked.
"Let us get back corporal punishment. Let us as a society stop treating our kids like eggs and ensure that we have values that they must grow up knowing,” he added.
He implored the Ministry of Education to get to the root cause of the current problem of burning schools in order to know the instigators of the whole mess by collaborating with the security agents in the country.
The MP also differed with nominated lawmaker Wilson Sossion over the recent transfers of teachers stating that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Ministry of Education must be allowed to do their work.
[caption caption="Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo"]
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“Transferring teachers is ensuring that we become a nation that fosters unity among the citizens. We do not want to see Luos only working in Luoland [or] Kikuyus in Kikuyuland," the MP stated.
"The transfers are important as they bring people from different communities together to interact and know what happens in other [areas],” the first time legislator further noted.
