The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESHA) Ugunja Chapter has called on education stakeholders to develop a comprehensive strategy to address the resurgence of student unrest in schools.

Speaking on behalf of the association on Sunday, July 19, 2026, Ugunja KESHA Chairman Paul Jera urged the government, parents and education stakeholders to invest in and expand day schools, saying the model would help curb indiscipline by increasing parental involvement.

“Day schools are the best strategy to curb school unrest, destruction of property and threats to the safety of learners and teachers,” Jera said.

“We are dealing with a difficult lot that teachers alone cannot tame. The best idea is to embrace day schools so that parents can help teachers monitor the behaviour of their sons and daughters at home.”

Jera, who is also the principal of St Albert Simmerro Mixed Secondary School, said schools are facing growing challenges driven by peer influence, depression and other social pressures among learners.

He expressed concern over the increasing cases of arson, saying students were destroying expensive school infrastructure over minor grievances.

“We have witnessed a number of cases of chaos and unrest in schools, some involving arson over petty issues such as demands for girls to plait their hair or complaints about being denied the chance to watch football. There is no relationship between those grievances and burning a dormitory,” he said.

According to Jera, some students intentionally burn dormitories because they do not want to remain in school, adding that converting more boarding schools into day schools would help address the problem.

He also pointed to examination pressure as a contributing factor, saying some students become violent after school administrators reject requests linked to examination malpractice.

“We thought scrapping school rankings would help curb such practices, but all of a sudden they have resurfaced,” he said.

Jera warned that excessive competition among schools for better national examination results had created unhealthy pressure on both teachers and learners, with many institutions focusing only on university admissions while overlooking technical and vocational education.

“We also need to redefine what success means. Parents struggle to secure places for their children in certain schools because they believe university admission is the only measure of achievement,” he said.

CCTV installation

At St Albert Simmerro Mixed Secondary School, Jera said the institution has adopted a holistic approach by encouraging students to participate in sports, cultural activities and other co-curricular programmes to reduce stress and improve discipline.

He added that CCTV cameras installed across the school have enhanced security and enabled administrators to detect behavioural concerns early.

“The CCTV cameras not only help us monitor the day-to-day running of the institution but also enable us to monitor students’ behaviour and enhance security,” he said.