Kenya's long-settled debate over caning in schools has resurfaced, after members of the National Assembly Committee on Education have hinted at scrapping the legal provisions that outlaw corporal punishment.
The signal has come at a time when worries about student indiscipline and violence against teachers have grown steadily, and when several schools have been torched by rogue students this year.
The development has been reported by KTN News Kenya, which has drawn on a story first published by The Standard, and the two outlets have framed it as a real possibility rather than a settled decision. No law has been changed yet, but the committee's hint has been enough to set tongues wagging.
Online, Kenyans have responded in large numbers, and their views have split sharply. Some have rejected the idea outright, with one commenter pleading that the cane should never be introduced again. Another has argued that parents should discipline their own children at home instead.
Others have taken a more conditional stance. A few have suggested that the Ministry of Education should hire dedicated disciplinarians to administer the cane, so that teachers are not the ones holding it.
A similar voice has proposed employing people specifically for caning, a suggestion that has drawn laughter from fellow commenters.
Supporters have not been shy either. One reader has endorsed the proposal wholeheartedly, while another has simply said lawmakers should do what they see fit.
Some have turned the question back on the legislators. One woman has asked whether MPs would accept the same treatment for their own children, or whether the rules have been meant only for public schools.
Her question has pointed to a fairness gap that lawmakers have yet to address.
So far, the idea has remained a hint rather than a bill. Yet the strength of public feeling has made one thing clear: any move to restore corporal punishment now has to answer hard questions about who administers it, who it covers, and how teachers can be protected without reviving methods the country has deliberately left behind. Parents, teachers and lawmakers have not yet found common ground.
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