When the head of a public school withholds a KCPE or KCSE (or olany other final examination) certificate for a student who struggled all through that level of education and was able to sit the exam leading to that certificate only because the government took care of exam registration fees or because well-wisher came to their aid, and hangs onto it demanding that ‘outstanding fees’ be cleared first, I am left to wonder what became of the human society.
Why would a head of a public school want to do that, even when it is clearly a case of desperation? Are we, by nature, HARDCORE SADISTS?
How about government policy? The last time I checked, public school heads in countries such as Kenya were, as policy, not supposed to withhold their former students’ certificates. Was this policy only to the extent of the paper it was written on? Is it ever followed upon?
As the head of a public institution of basic education, how do you help children from not so well-to-do families get something out of their hard-earned education by withholding their end of course certificates? What are you doing with the certificates piled up in your drawers, Mr/Ms Head teacher? Is your conscience comfortable with this? Is this how to contribute to society and uplift others’ standards of living? Really??!
I am not blind to the fact that some school heads have to really struggle to keep their schools going, owing to inadequate funding. However, that’s exactly why the are school managers. A manager is no ordinary employee. Management, especially of a public institution, is never a walk in the park. School managers are supposed to be innovative and should, therefore, be able to find alternatives to making up for money not paid by parents who genuinely couldn’t and cannot pay.
Just a little dose of CSR would really help, however difficult the school circumstances may be.
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