Play Your Role in Disciplining Your Children, Principal Tells Parents

Drugs and substance abuse in schools have been cited as a major cause of indiscipline among students within Kabras West Sub-county.

It is for this reason that parents have been urged to be more vigilant in monitoring their children’s behaviour and movements while at home.

The Sub-county Director of Education in charge of the newly constituted Kabras West, which was carved out of the larger Malava (Kakamega North) Sub-county, Pauline Anupi, while gracing the Friends Mugai Secondary School Annual General Meeting, called on parents to take up their responsibilities seriously by ensuring that the discipline of their children is maintained at home so that the same can be reflected at school.

Anupi said it was important for parents to set rules at home that children can adhere to and criticised the laxity being witnessed where parents have delegated all duties concerning their children to teachers and school management.

“Let parents know that matters of discipline lie solely with them and not the teachers, as the latter are only mandated to teach. Take time to teach your children to appreciate the good done to them, and it is the first step towards being disciplined,” she pointed out.

She maintained that discipline was the role of parents and that the notion of giving children a “soft life” had ruined and eroded behaviour in the new generation, as parents have set their children free and many even fear correcting them despite seeing them going astray.

The Director observed that cases of drugs and substance abuse in schools were a growing concern, especially with the girl child now being at centre stage.

“I’ll be having a meeting with our girls within the sub-county to discuss various issues affecting them and find lasting solutions to their challenges, including drugs and early pregnancies.”

However, she challenged parents to provide the basic needs required by girls to prevent them from being lured into seeking them from strangers, which later exposes them to reckless and lavish lifestyles that lead to early pregnancies, diseases and drug abuse.

“Good morals are taught at home and it is not the full mandate of teachers, as their role is to offer content. It is parents who should stamp authority in their homes and also follow up on their children’s education, as they spend more time in school than at home. Do not keep postponing parenting, neither can it be done through proxy. Do not relegate your responsibilities to your immediate relatives. What you invest in your child is more important than what you invest for them.”

She also thanked the school management for the efforts that saw 34 candidates qualify for university, adding that the effort invested in nurturing an average learner to qualify for university should not be taken for granted.

The Education Secretary for Friends Church Schools, Malava Yearly Meeting (MYM), Margaret Kataka, said that as sponsors they were working on ways to improve the performance of the 34 schools and raise their mean scores in the end-year KCSE examination.

She said the performance of Friends Church-based schools was so far encouraging and would be even better if parents embraced timely fee payment.

She expressed concern over the status of the girl child in secondary schools, citing early pregnancies as one of the major hindrances affecting learning.

At the same time, learning in most schools is disrupted as students are sent home more often to collect school fees.

Speaking at Friends School Mugai, Principal Anne Masheti narrated that her school was finding it difficult to operate as most parents were yet to remit school fees, with the debt standing at KSh 6 million as of the second term of 2026.

The principal called on parents to take their children’s education seriously, as it will determine their future.

She applauded both the county and national governments for issuing bursaries to learners across the constituency.

“We are grateful to the two levels of government for chipping in through bursaries that have cushioned most parents on matters of fee payment, but we wish to remind parents that they have an obligation to offset the remaining balance to enable learning to continue,” she stated.

The School Parents Association chairperson, Titus Soita, echoing the sentiments of the principal, maintained that they were going to be tougher on fee payment to cut down on debts and enable the school to run smoothly.

He said the school was among the thriving academic institutions in the new Kabras West Sub-county.

Speaking at another AGM forum, Friends Tande Secondary School Principal Dan Masitsa stated that it was the obligation of parents to instil discipline in their children, with the first step being timely fee payment.

The principal called on parents to stamp authority by ensuring that discipline was key in their children’s lives right from home to school.

He assured parents that education standards at the school were being nurtured to meet the desired levels and called for total cooperation from all relevant stakeholders.

The guest of honour during the ceremony, Pamela Mukabana, a former teacher and aspiring Kakamega County Woman Representative in 2027, cautioned students against engaging in acts of indiscipline such as the Tumaini Girls dormitory inferno that claimed the lives of 16 girls, terming the act not only heinous but criminal and one that would see perpetrators face the law.

She further pointed out that the education of the boy child had been left at the mercy of a few well-wishers, while many organisations had channelled their available resources towards uplifting and supporting the education of the girl child.

“We have seen the education of boys declining each year and no one is addressing the root cause. I’m planning to initiate a support programme for boy learners once I am elected as the Kakamega County Woman Representative, where we will be able to handle issues affecting and leading to their poor performance, as much emphasis has been directed to girls while forgetting boys.”

On discipline, she challenged learners to exercise the virtue, noting that it remains important even after school in colleges, universities and places of employment.