Who will mentor the boy child?

Two Sundays ago, I had the privilege of joining students and staff of Orero Secondary School in Homa Bay County. The occasion was a Sunday Church Service courtesy of a local media station. The event was remarkable as it was fulfilling. We got to worship together and thank the lord as part of the fifty-year celebrations of the existence of one of the most celebrated Schools in the county and even country.

As soon as the church service ended, we were all ushered out of the Hall. We assumed that was the end of the Sunday events. We soon, discovered that we were wrong. The students were asked to remain as the rest of us went outside. It was then that we realized that there was more to come. This turned out to be a concert involving singing, dancing and acting.

We found our way back to the hall once the events had started. Watching the young men perform was amazing. It demonstrated the extent of talent that exists amongst our youth and that an over focus on academics stifles. It reminded me of the urgency of the educational reforms that were pushed by the Ministry of Education. When the complete roll out of the curriculum was pushed to next year, it was on the understanding that some outstanding work still required to be done. These included the presentation of the Sessional paper on the reforms to Parliament for debate and adoption.

However, very little has been heard about the reforms this year. The danger is that we risk rushing through the roll out come end of the year. This was the challenge last year. The ministry must not repeat the same mistake. It must urgently engage the public on the anticipated reforms so that the society, parents and students are aware of the expected changes and their implications.

The proper implementation of the reforms can ensure that the talents I watched at Orero and many others amongst our youth are nurtured by the educational system as opposed to the current process where very little structures exists for identifying and supporting such talents. This explains why the Sunday event was such an important one.

The surprise for us was when the students were asked who their role model was. From a sample of around 20 students, half of them pointed to foreign musicians. The rest largely stated that their role models were their parents. One identified with a local politician.

We reflected on the answers and were on the one hand happy that several students had role models in their parents. Parents play an important role in the lives of their children. To the extent that the children look up to them and get inspiration from their lives is extremely important.

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What was shocking though was the lack of role models for the students from amongst the Kenyan society. We asked ourselves the reasons for this. First, although these students interact with their teachers, they do not see the teachers as role models.

The challenge must thus be for the teaching profession and the government to ask themselves why students do not see them as role models.

Unfortunately, none of the students identified with their teachers as their role models. It is important that the teaching profession gets treated with a lot more seriousness by Government so that it can regain its respected place in society. The many strikes that teachers must go through, the levels of remuneration that teachers get makes their plight pitiable.

Secondly, despite the community having several professionals, majority of the students did not name any of these professionals as their role models. While many of the professional are fairly successful in their careers, it is clear that they do not regularly interact with the young people.

To be a role model you must set a good example. You must also be available to influence the lives of the young people.