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Schools have a novel way of dealing with truancy. Students who are caught out of the school compound without permission are deemed to have jumped over the fence. They are sent home but return on one condition: Buy a roll of barbed wire and take it to school. But schools do not accept just any barbed wire: It has to be of high quality. A parent may spend Sh3,000 to buy a roll only to have it rejected as sub-standard. School principals say the rationale behind barbed wire is to discourage students from sneaking out of the compound. They say students who play truant are the cause of many school woes: Drug abuse, sex deviance and theft among other ills. The tougher the crackdown on truancy, school managers add, the less the afflictions. Bullying and drug abuse are the most serious crimes at Naaro Secondary in Maragua, Mr Peter Waweru, the principal, says. Last year, the school expelled a student after he was found with hard drugs. Schools do not hesitate to take drastic action against arson. A few years ago, Murang’a’s Kangema High expelled boys who were linked to the torching of the school's administration block. In Nyandarua, a principal who does not want to be identified says he has the answer to gross indiscipline: Suspending students and asking them to carry their belongings home. "It has worked miracles. It sends a chilling message to them, their parents and neighbours: They shape up or chip out." The principal adds that when the two-week suspension is over, the boys return cowed and reformed.   By Boniface Gikandi and Michuki Ngamau Article Source: Standard Newspapers.

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