Indiscipline in Public Secondary Schools: the Case of Nairobi County

Abstract

Student discipline is a critical component in the attainment of positive outcomes in schools. Although there have been numerous efforts by the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Education (MOE) to address the issue of school indiscipline , lack of it makes a mockery of government efforts. Today, the MOE is still determined to address school indiscipline by establishing ways of enhancing discipline in all schools, especially the public ones. This study sought to understand the phenomenon of indiscipline in secondary schools by looking at the various forms of indiscipline in secondary schools in Nairobi and the factors that triggered and promoted this school indiscipline. More so, the study sought to understand why there were persistent cases of school indiscipline despite there being numerous efforts to tackle it. The study was a descriptive survey targeting public secondary schools in Nairobi County. Questionnaires and interviews schedules were employed as the research instruments. In total 85 randomly selected students drawn from the five purposively sampled schools (a mixed day school, two girls and two boys’ boarding schools) participated in the study. While the questionnaires were used to elicit data from the students, interview schedules were used to gather data from five school principals and twenty one randomly selected teachers. Quantitative data gathered from these instruments were analyzed through the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17.0. The qualitative data was informative in explaining and clarifying the quantitative data from the questionnaires. Frequencies and percentages were used to summarize the data. Findings were presented using frequency distribution tables. The findings of the study revealed that absenteeism, rudeness to teachers and bullying were some of the most prevalent forms of school indiscipline. Among the individual factors that triggered indiscipline in schools, lack of self discipline and lack of self control ranked as the highest contributor to school indiscipline. Low self esteem amongst students, lack of adequate infrastructural activities, negligence of the students’ welfare by school administrators and negative peer pressure were also cited as other contributory factors to school indiscipline. Students’ failure to adhere to school rules and regulations and lack of parental support in disciplining of students were the main home based factors that contributed to school indiscipline. Student’s failure to adhere to school rules and regulations and lack of parental support in disciplining of students were the main challenges faced in managing indiscipline. The persistence of school indiscipline in public secondary schools in Nairobi was largely blamed on lack of effective guidance and counseling programs in public secondary schools and the need for the school administration and teachers to create a conducive learning environment for students, as an effective way of dealing with increasing cases of indiscipline. The study further recommends that there is need for establishing zero tolerance policies towards indiscipline in schools in order to defer indiscipline.