Poor feeding may lead to student rebellion

I WISH to contribute a few ideas and suggestions about the monster which is eating schools in Uganda at a first and frequent rate. I will mention some of the causes of strikes and later suggest solutions.Causes- Poor feeding- Lack of effective communication between head teachers, teachers and students.- Lack of teachers.- Imposing student leaders.- Obsolete rules and regulations- Parents’ attitude (sympathy rather than empathy).Solutions:- Discourage small student groups, caucuses. While it is good to encourage socialising and promote freedom of association at all levels, small student groups without a well-laid out agenda should be stopped immediately. - Expel with severe punishment students who organise strikes without fear or favour. Some schools instead of being strict, decide to merely suspend ring leaders and later allow them back as long as they have paid for the items damaged. - Empathy and no sympathy. Parents should change from being sympathetic to being empathetic. It is detrimental to start fantasising about the good old days when students used to be served with eggs, bread and butter. Remember that was then and this is now.- Head teachers and their staff should utilise the visiting Sundays not only to brief parents on students’ academic performance, but also to inform them about the programmes and problems being undertaken by the school. - Teachers should be keen to find parents’ opinions about the projects and problems at the school. - After every visiting Sunday, a staff meeting be held to deliberate on the outcome of the day.- Schools should carry out post admission interviews and scrutiny of students so as to identify special cases who have been admitted. This should be done for both S1 and S5 admissions. This enables the school administration to identify students who may need special care and attention.- Do not impose leaders but train elected leaders in leadership skills. This makes students feel that their rights are respected. Do clearly define roles of student leaders. Joseph Kabaseke,Hima Cement,Kasese.