Ruto roots for traditional African parenting to curb school unrest

President William Ruto wants Kenyan families to dust off the wisdom their grandparents lived by. Addressing guests at the 60th anniversary celebrations of Burieruri Boys Senior School in Meru County on June 28, 2026, Ruto made a passionate call for a return to traditional African parenting as the most credible antidote to the school disruptions that have unsettled parents, teachers and administrators in recent months.

At the heart of his message was the old African conviction that raising a child is never a private matter. "Let us recover the wisdom of African parenting, where no child belonged to one household," Ruto told the gathering, invoking the communal spirit that once made entire villages responsible for the conduct and character of every young person in their midst. He contrasted that model with the increasingly individualistic approach to parenting that, in his view, has left children without the broader network of accountability they need to thrive.

The President was equally direct about the relationship between academic excellence and moral grounding. Arguing that schooling alone is not enough, he told the audience: "Knowledge may sharpen the mind, but only discipline governs its use." He called on mothers and fathers to stay actively involved in their children's schooling — not just at admission time or during fee payment — but throughout every stage of the educational journey. In Ruto's framing, an engaged parent is as important to a child's future as any textbook or examination.

The anniversary event was not only a moment for reflection; it came with tangible pledges for the school. Ruto announced the construction of 30 new classrooms at a cost of Sh40 million and a multipurpose hall valued at Sh70 million, investments he said would bring the institution's physical infrastructure in line with the ambitions of its students. He also committed to development works at the neighbouring Ncunguru Primary School, signalling that the government's focus extends beyond flagship institutions to the feeder schools that serve the same communities.

Meru County as a whole stood to gain from the President's visit. Ruto outlined a raft of broader development commitments for the region, spanning affordable housing projects, road construction, new electricity connections and improvements to local health facilities. Taken together, the allocations run into billions of shillings, a sign that the national government is treating Meru as a priority zone for bottom-up economic transformation. For residents watching from the crowd, the message was layered: rebuild the values that hold communities together, and the infrastructure investments that follow will have a foundation worth building on.