On 4th and 5th
August 2017 good hope organized two (2) school management meetings at Kenyange
primary school and Kisinga Vocation secondary school which aimed at share and
discuss key issues that contribute to violence against children and adolescents
in the respective schools and then to come up with initiatives that can address
the identified issues to reduce children’s vulnerability to violence in the
respective schools. The meetings involved members of parents-teachers
association (PTA) and the school management committee members (SMC) of the sub
county leadership from the two sub counties of Kisinga and Karusandara who
included the CDOs, councilors, chiefs, and the secretary for production. 30
(10f and 20m) members attended the meeting.
Among the key issues identified and
discussed during the meeting included; the lack of learning space for the
pupils at Kenyange Muslim where the class room block was taken off by the
strong winds that hit the sub county in 2016 and up to now the school has been
un able to roof again the block. Currently pupils use the tapeline that was
provided by save the children as the class room. This has made the learning
environment for children unfavorable especially during the hot and rain season
thereby affecting the learning capacity of children.
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Aclass room block at Kenyange muslim that was blown off by strong wind |
Members at Kenyange Muslim also
raised another issue on limited engagement of children in co-curriculum
activities such as sports, MDD which was attributed to the abscess of
playground at the school, sports items such as balls, MDD kits such as drums to
mention. This has always violated the children’s right to play and also
increasing the chances of children not to stay and complete school.
Members also commended on the decreasing
school enrolment which members attributed to un seriousness among the teachers,
religion where the school has been treated to be only for the Muslims, and then
the weak management.
At Kisinga vocation secondary school,
members showed concern on the increasing behavior of alcoholism among the
adolescents, students escaping in video halls at the trading center which
increases the risk for them to be subjected to violence in and outside the
school
Additionally member mentioned the issue
of lack of suggestion box for the children which limits the platform for
students to share with the administration what they pass through and their
grievances for addressing by the administration.
The management also highlighted the need
for the washing room for the girls at school mainly for the nonresident
students where they said girls have been seen being chased from the hostels
when they try to go and work on themselves during their menstruations and this
has made some girls to always miss classes whenever they are on their
menstruation
Key suggestions
from the meetings
The management of Kenyange Muslim and
the sub county leadership of Karusandara suggested that there is need to put up
a playground for the children and strengthen the co-curriculum activities at
school as a way motivating children to love the school, stay and complete
school. It’s away also of managing psychological torture among the children.
The management also suggested organizing
visits in churches to popularize the school among other religious faiths in
order to mobilize for more children to join the school
The sub county leadership and the
management also suggested that there is a need for an urgent work on the
classroom block for the children. On this they suggested to approach the area
member of parliament and the sub county for assistance.
Members Kisinga Vocation secondary
school suggested that in order to address the issue of students engaging
themselves in alcoholism and video halls, there is to procure a school video
screen for the students to be used by the students during a specified day and
time. This will help in occupying the student’s time thereby reducing the
chances of them from engaging in risky behaviors and being violated. However
they added that it should be used to watch educative items.
Members also suggested that there is a
need to put up a suggestion box for the students to share their challenges and
grievances the administration for quick response.
Key resolution
The supported PTA/SMC school initiatives
included;
The management at Kenyange Muslim
primary school agreed that the class room block should be roofed as soon as
possible where members said by the end of the holiday it should have been
roofed. Good Hope Foundation supported this management initiative both
financially and in-kind
At Kisinga Vocation secondary school the
PTA/SMC agreed that they will be procuring video set for the students. Good
Hope Foundation also contributed financially towards this initiative.
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| Good Hope foundation staff with Kenyange Muslim management committee after the management meeting to identify the school initiative |
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| Good Hope Foundation Staff and Kisinga Voc Sec SMC& PTA in a meeting geared towards preventing Violence Against Children in Schools |
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