Interior CS Kipchumba Miurkomen presides over the graduation of the Jukwaa la Wasomi Certified Professional Mediators (CPM) at the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi, September 21 /MINAThe government says up to 90 per cent of students in higher learning institutions have experienced some form of violence, raising concern over the abuse that learners could be enduring silently.
Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala said research-based figures show that the violence takes different forms, including physical and online abuse.
"Research tells us that 90 per cent of our students have experienced some form of violence either online or physical," she said.
"And they have experienced either as perpetrators or victims," she added, noting that female students account for the highest proportion of victims at 65 per cent.
Inyangala spoke on Monday at the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi during the graduation ceremony of Jukwaa La Wasomi Certified Professional Mediators (CPM).
Jukwaa La Wasomi is anchored within the Jukwaa la Usalama Framework and is delivered by the Universities and Colleges Students' Peace Association of Kenya.
Inyangala said the statistics are worrying, particularly as universities and TVET institutions were in the course of admitting a new batch of students from high school into environments where they expect to feel safe.
"So, what does this mean for a mother, a father, a guardian? A lot of anxiety over fragility. But today, the conversation changes," she said.
The graduates of the Jukwaa la Wasomi programme, a student-led national initiative on mediation and preventive security, will sit in subcounty security committee meetings, where they will contribute directly to decision-making.
The mediators are also expected to strengthen efforts to combat drug and substance abuse in learning institutions and support government cohesion initiatives aimed at promoting a culture of civility in the country.
"So let us all celebrate this watershed moment with a resounding round of applause to all of you champions, you leaders who have taken a step to change this conversation by undertaking this training," Inyangala said.
The ceremony also marked the International Day of Peace and the launch of the Kenya National Mediation Hub.
The event was presided over by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
Murkomen said the hub would link more than 30,000 university, TVET, college and school-based mediation hubs across the country to National Government Administration Officers and other agencies to strengthen security management within and around learning institutions.
"To ensure that it more effectively fulfils the noble role for which it was created, we are putting in place a multi-agency framework to institutionalise this model," Murkomen said.
The event was attended by senior education officials and other stakeholders, including Vice Chancellors Forum chairperson Prof Daniel Mugendi, UoN Council and Jukwaa La Wasomi chairperson Prof Chacha Nyagoti, UoN Vice Chancellor Prof Ayub Gitau, and representatives from KTCPA, KATTI, KESSHA and KEPSHA, among others.
