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Writer's pictureSetrida Chikwense

School Rules and Regulations Should Never Justify Cruelty and Negligence

Just last week and several other weeks before that, me and my friends talked about how unnecessary strict some of these secondary schools are, especially when it comes to the treatment of sick students. It saddens me even more to hear about the untimely death of a student at Mary Mount Secondary School who died because she was allegedly denied timely medical attention.


It is sad that for a lot of things to be fixed in this country, something bad has to happen first. It did not have to take the death of a student for the public to be riled up about most of these ridiculous rules and restrictions in different schools. It has become a norm for the public to respond to most frustrating issues with “adzaona polekera” in cases where authorities choose to ignore serious issues which need fixing.


Several private and non-government schools in the country, including Mary Mount, take pride in having strict regulations and rules. When some of these rules and restrictions are examined closely, they may cause one to wonder who they benefit and who they are meant to serve. Most of these regulations appear to me to be just a means of punishing students.


I know of a prestigious primary school that refuses to hold Parents-Teacher Association meetings for whatever reason. This makes it very difficult for parents to bring up issues that affect their children, and believe me, there are many issues, some of which have directly put the students' lives in danger. Nothing is done about it; it is a good school. I was even more shocked to hear gruesome stories about another private school where students are flogged and abused in various ways, but nothing is done and everyone just ignores it.


Remember how we say that a student's school is their second home? Given that secondary schools now admit children as young as ten years old, schools need to be the safest place for them. Every parent trusts the school and its authorities to do the right thing for their children; how can they now trust schools if they continue to be this negligent, and cruel to students?

I am not dismissing the importance of school regulations and rules in general, but to be honest, schools should re-examine some of their rules and regulations. Parents should also begin to question some of these restrictions, regulations, and rules.


Food for thought? How safe are our children in these schools if the regulations and rules are designed to punish them rather than to educate or mold them into better citizens?

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