Among Gen Z's and the younger generations, time is considered a very scarce commodity. These individuals are highly capitalists who have become sharpened by a much more advanced technology. Every task they partake is guided strictly by a simple rule - one of speed, efficiency and timely results.
In our Kenyan education system, which is much influenced by our cultures as a nation. Dragging through issues and a hesitance to arrive at solutions swiftly has become the norm. For instance, teacher to learner ratio has been an issue troubling our classrooms since time immemorial as have been other crucial issues. Still, the government is taking ages to resolve such. So personally I feel the regular school unrest in boarding schools is an issue of students - (rational thinkers as per developmental psychology), trying to express their frustrations towards unfixed pertinent issues to do with their welfare.
According to an article by Hon. Irungu Kangata, when resources are constrained, the pressure will evidently be manifest in a number of ways. One being the torching of school dormitories and other facilities - something our nation has witnessed in the past few weeks.
"Economy teaches us that when the demand is high and the prices is artificially constrained, the pressure does not disappear; it shifts elswhere. This shift is what economists call shadow pricing. If the official fee is placed far below what parents would willingly pay, the difference between their willingness to pay and the capped price becomes the hidden value. This hidden value can manifest as intense competition, informal influence, overcrowding and a scramble for limited spaces. Meanwhile schools operate with minimal funding even as expectations rise," stated Hon. Kangata in his Daily Nation column.
So could this countrywide unrest in high schools be attributed to the instrumental value of education? That parents feel that taking their children to some boarding schools would lead to good performance and subsequently a nice lucrative job. And has the government helped to fuel this illusion by rating some high schools in different cadres (national, extra county schools and such) while resources in these schools remain largely dilapidated? And should the act of burning the schools be an outcry by the students who are shouting through actions that " we are paying fees but our facilities are poor?
Key issues that are prevalent in majority of our Kenyan high schools include, inadequacy of clean drinking water, strict punitive enforcement by teachers, lack of good dining facilities, lack of laboratory facilities, long academic terms with minimal or no half term breaks, poor classroom infrastructure among others.
Developmental psychology teaches us that children progress in growth through stages. According to Jean Piaget, the fourth stage of cognitive development known as the formal operational stage covers ages 12 upwards. This should be adolescents and adults. According to Piagets theory, individuals in this stage can reason abstractly, do Deductive reasoning and also solve hypothetical problems. So I believe our high school students are genuinely becrying of systems which are not working and as such exhibiting their aggression through such behaviours like burning of schools and regular strikes.
Hon. Fred Matiangi challenged the government particularly the ministry of Education to visit school so as to be in tandem with the realities of day to day life in our schools and warns against prioritizing regulations while failing to understand the root cause of challenges facing Education.
"When I was minister for Education, I used to visit schools myself. That is how as a minister, you come to understand the conditions in our schools. Education is not provided at Jogoo house; what you find there is papers and files. Education is provided in our schools," said the Deputy party leader, Jubilee Party.
According to Kenya Red Cross, the organization has responded to at least 37 incidents of school fires across multiple counties since the start of 2026 alone. Students' recent unrest has hit over 204 schools in 32 counties across the nation. Despite these figures, the ministry of Education reports that these cases affect less than 2% of the country's secondary schools.
Meanwhile, the government maintains that the perpetrators of such school fires will be taken as criminals. Former PS. for basic Education Amb. Prof. Julius Bitok did insist that the academic calender will not be affected as only few schools have experienced disruptions so far.
"We have decided to deal with those people and are putting them on notice...even the students who are burning schools. You will not go scot free! We shall come for you, if responsible, tutakupeleka jela na tukufunge huko...hata kama wewe ni mtoto," said Prof Bitok in Bomet county.
CS for Education Prof. Julius Ogamba on Wednesday, June 10 2026 ordered drastic changes to term dates. He has directed that term 2 will be shortened to run for 12 weeks with effect from the academic year 2027.
Currently, the longevity of terms 1, 2 and 3 sits at 12 weeks, 14 weeks and 9 weeks respectively. He also maintained that the mid‑term dates for this year’s second term remain unchanged, scheduled between June 24th and June 28th.
"Starting next year, the Ministry shall rationalise the school calendar to ensure that the terms are balanced and that the second term is not as long as it has been,” he stated.
"We are now going to rationalise that and have 12 weeks across the board,” he reiterated.
The PS has recently been moved to the State Department for Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, being replaced at the helm of the State Department for Basic Education by John Lekakeny Ololtuaa in a recent reshuffle by H.E president William Ruto. It is yet to be seen whether the situation can be quelled under the leadership of the new PS - a tried and tested Education administrator.
