Download PDF - Raising Voices
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Creating Safer Schools: Lessons Learned; Strategies for Action SessionSession12When HakiElimu held a public competition askingpeople, “What is a good school?” about 6,000 peopleparticipated. But virtually all talked about good schools asclassrooms, order, neatness, and cleanliness. Some talkedabout books and enough teachers, and some talkedabout sanitation and toilets. A few talked about a schoolwhere teachers don’t hit you. This was a rude wake upcall. People didn’t have very imaginative ideas about whatschools are about. This competition was a good tellingof where we are in the state of public imagination aboutschooling and education.Using the mediaRakesh Rajani, Executive Director ofHakiElimu emphasized that mass media isa highly effective way to begin a nationaldebate on key issues of vital importanceto the community, such as the quality ofeducation experienced by children in ourschools.“I am increasingly convinced that radio,TV and to some extent newspapers, areinstitutions that are unrivaled by any others,”Rajani said. “The media is many timesmore powerful than the NGO communitycombined. Working with the media isan important strategy for creating saferschools. It allows you to go to a scale that isunrivaled.”HakiElimu uses three media-basedstrategies:Firstly, HakiElimu uses media spots. Theseare 30-second and one-minute adverts.There are numerous different spots andthe frequency is very high. On a typicalday, one might hear them 30 times. “Theypromote a debate about what works whenit comes to creating an experience of highquality education. It is not about rights firstand foremost, but about what works andwhat doesn’t work. The whole idea is that byportraying real situations and putting them infront of people, you force the viewer to think,and to rethink. The aim is to provoke, ratherthan to preach. No one likes to be preachedat,” Rajani said.Secondly, HakiElimu creates a public forumfor creating accountability. For exampleone activity that has been used successfullyinvolves sponsoring journalists to go into thecommunity in the morning to talk to ordinarypeople about some key issues. In theafternoon, another journalist gets the localleaders together. They have a communitymeeting, and the community gives theirviews on these key issues that they havealready discussed in the morning, and theleaders are asked to respond. The programis then broadcast on national TV and radio,compelling leaders to be accountable.Thirdly, HakiElimu promotes investigativejournalism that asks deeper questions aboutthe quality of our schools and helps to putthe issue on the public agenda. “HakiElimuhas a few rules the journalists must follow:talk to many sources, don’t try to minimizedifferences, and then report it. Beyond that,it’s up to the journalist. Every year, we havealmost 1,000 stories - including features,editorials, and news stories - that get writtenand that give a different point of view.”14
SessionSession21Creating Safer Schools: Lessons Learned; Strategies for ActionDiscussiona) Cheryl Frank emphasized that a public health approach may be needed tocreate safer schools. “By conceptualizing schools as generally promoting thehealth and well being of children and existing for that purpose, we can helpeducators clearly focus on what their role ought to be. We see schools actuallyclamoring to label themselves as a healthy school because, for example, theyfollow five basic principles. They can tick those things off in a clean way, andthey get excited about this notion.”b) Dr. Susan Nkinyangi emphasized that encouraging and developingconfidence of the teachers is crucial. “Using the idea of quality inspectorsinstead of school inspectors, provides positive feedback to the teachers, ratherthan inspectors just coming into a school and punishing teachers. We needto provide opportunity for professional development and support to teachers,to allow them to deal with challenges. Right now it is all top down, and theteachers are last in this hierarchy. We need to work to change that.”c) Dipak Naker added that working with the school to re-conceptualize their roleis crucial. Most teachers have inherited notions of what a school ought to be,and how teachers ought to behave around children. Unless we present workablealternatives that expand the teacher’s imagination, we will keep talking aboutpiece-meal solutions.d) Dr. Richard Griggs commented that we need partnering and communityvigilance to ensure that our schools live up to highest standards. “The synergyof the whole school and the whole community owning the processes intheir school, where student bodies are vigorous, active participants in themanagement of a school is so critical”.e) Dr. Carla Sutherland advocated for using popular media like soap operasand radio dramas to shift broader public opinion. For instance, buying astory line in a TV drama about menstruation being a barrier to participatingin education. This has worked well in Kenya and is growing as a region wideapproach.f) Rakesh Rajani suggested that working with religious leaders is anothersuccessful avenue. “A faith-based leader who makes the case that in the Bibleor the Koran, the appropriate religious vision is one of safety and security andnot of being punitive, is more persuasive than a secular person.”g) Dr. Salim Vally raised the issue of being aware of underlying causes. “It’sa question of not just changing attitudes, but examining why they flourish.If we really, really want to get rid of violence in schools, we have to look atdemocratizing society as a whole, to look at how women are convenientlyscapegoated, to look at issues of power, of peoples’ frustration, of alienationamong our youth.”15
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SessionSession21Creating Safer Schools: Lessons Learned; Strategies for ActionDiscussiona) Cheryl Frank emphasized that a public health approach may be needed tocreate safer schools. “By conceptualizing schools as generally promoting thehealth and well being of children and existing for that purpose, we can helpeducators clearly focus on what their role ought to be. We see schools actuallyclamoring to label themselves as a healthy school because, for example, theyfollow five basic principles. They can tick those things off in a clean way, andthey get excited about this notion.”b) Dr. Susan Nkinyangi emphasized that encouraging and developingconfidence of the teachers is crucial. “Using the idea of quality inspectorsinstead of school inspectors, provides positive feedback to the teachers, ratherthan inspectors just coming into a school and punishing teachers. We needto provide opportunity for professional development and support to teachers,to allow them to deal with challenges. Right now it is all top down, and theteachers are last in this hierarchy. We need to work to change that.”c) Dipak Naker added that working with the school to re-conceptualize their roleis crucial. Most teachers have inherited notions of what a school ought to be,and how teachers ought to behave around children. Unless we present workablealternatives that expand the teacher’s imagination, we will keep talking aboutpiece-meal solutions.d) Dr. Richard Griggs commented that we need partnering and communityvigilance to ensure that our schools live up to highest standards. “The synergyof the whole school and the whole community owning the processes intheir school, where student bodies are vigorous, active participants in themanagement of a school is so critical”.e) Dr. Carla Sutherland advocated for using popular media like soap operasand radio dramas to shift broader public opinion. For instance, buying astory line in a TV drama about menstruation being a barrier to participatingin education. This has worked well in Kenya and is growing as a region wideapproach.f) Rakesh Rajani suggested that working with religious leaders is anothersuccessful avenue. “A faith-based leader who makes the case that in the Bibleor the Koran, the appropriate religious vision is one of safety and security andnot of being punitive, is more persuasive than a secular person.”g) Dr. Salim Vally raised the issue of being aware of underlying causes. “It’sa question of not just changing attitudes, but examining why they flourish.If we really, really want to get rid of violence in schools, we have to look atdemocratizing society as a whole, to look at how women are convenientlyscapegoated, to look at issues of power, of peoples’ frustration, of alienationamong our youth.”15
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