Let students reward their teachers with excellence, not expensive gifts
A couch presented to a principal by her graduating class opens a necessary debate about gift culture in Kenya’s schools.
By Ashford Kimani
The news that the Class of 2026 at St Joseph’s Girls Senior School has honoured its principal, Dr Rosebella Munzala Orwaru, with a seven-seater couch has opened an important conversation about the culture of students rewarding teachers and school administrators. According to a report published by Education News yesterday, the students, who identify themselves as the Royal Zenith Girls, presented the couch in appreciation of Orwaru’s leadership, mentorship and support during their four years in secondary school. The gesture has been framed as a symbol of gratitude and the bond between the school head and her learners. Yet beyond that touching narrative lies a question Kenya’s education sector must confront honestly: should students be encouraged to purchase expensive gifts for the very people entrusted with their education, welfare and academic assessment?
Appreciating a teacher or a principal is not inherently wrong. Teachers invest their time, knowledge and emotional resources in shaping young lives. Some go well beyond their formal responsibilities to mentor vulnerable students, counsel troubled teenagers and encourage learners who have almost given up. A principal who provides a supportive environment and demonstrates genuine concern for students deserves recognition. There is, however, a significant difference between expressing gratitude and establishing a culture in which expensive material gifts become the preferred form of appreciation. The problem is not gratitude itself. It is the potential consequences of turning gratitude into a costly tradition within an institution defined by unequal power relationships.
Expensive gifts risk normalising the commercialisation of the relationship between students and their teachers. A couch is not a handwritten card or a collective letter of thanks. It is a material asset with a clear financial value. When a graduating class pools resources to purchase an expensive gift for a principal, it creates a precedent that future classes may feel compelled to match or surpass. What began as a voluntary gesture could quietly become an unofficial expectation, with students measuring appreciation by monetary value rather than sincerity. Education should cultivate character, responsibility and service — not encourage a competition in material generosity towards those in positions of authority.
Such gestures can also place unnecessary financial pressure on parents and guardians. Students rarely act independently of their families when organising expensive gifts. Even where the initiative originates with the learners, parents are eventually asked to contribute. Some families can comfortably afford such expenditure. Others struggle to provide basic necessities — school fees, uniforms, meals and revision materials. Consider a parent who has borrowed money to keep a child in school being asked to contribute towards a gift for the principal. What happens when that parent cannot afford it? Will the child feel embarrassed or excluded? Schools must be careful not to introduce financial obligations that deepen inequalities among learners. No parent should feel that an expensive gift is part of the hidden cost of secondary education.
Rewarding school administrators with expensive gifts can also create the perception — whether justified or not — that students are purchasing favour. A principal exercises considerable authority over school discipline, student welfare and the allocation of opportunities. Teachers similarly hold authority over learners and participate in assessing their academic progress. In that context, gifts of significant material value can blur the boundary between professional responsibility and personal relationship. Even where the recipient has acted with complete integrity, observers may question whether the relationship has become excessively personalised. Public confidence in an institution depends not only on the absence of wrongdoing but also on the avoidance of circumstances that reasonably invite suspicion.
Timing matters considerably here. The St Joseph’s Girls gift was presented as the Class of 2026 prepared for its Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations, with the students publicly declaring an ambition to achieve a mean score of 8.7. There is no suggestion in the available reporting that the gift was connected to examination outcomes or any improper conduct. Even so, schools should remain sensitive to perceptions surrounding gifts presented during high-stakes academic periods. Examination integrity depends on confidence that every candidate is treated fairly and that professional decisions remain independent of personal relationships.
What, then, should students do when they genuinely wish to appreciate their teachers? They can write heartfelt letters, prepare a collective message, present a framed class photograph or organise a modest farewell ceremony. They can demonstrate appreciation through discipline, hard work and the practical application of values learned in the classroom. Alumni can return to mentor younger students, support school libraries or establish bursaries for disadvantaged learners. These alternatives communicate gratitude without creating an expensive precedent or placing pressure on families. They demonstrate that appreciation is measured by meaning and impact, not monetary value.
The Ministry of Education, the Teachers Service Commission, school boards and individual institutions should consider providing clearer guidance on appropriate gift-giving practices. Such guidance should protect teachers from inappropriate expectations while also shielding students and parents from financial pressure. Principals and teachers should feel comfortable declining excessively valuable gifts and explaining respectfully that a sincere message of appreciation is sufficient. School leadership must model the ethical restraint that students are expected to learn.
Ultimately, the question is not whether Orwaru deserves appreciation from her students. The question is what kind of culture Kenyan schools should cultivate. A principal may cherish a couch, but the greatest evidence of successful leadership is not the furniture presented by a graduating class. It is the character of the learners who leave the institution, the opportunities created for those who remain and the integrity of the educational environment that has been built. Let students reward their teachers with excellence, discipline and lifelong gratitude. Expensive gifts may make headlines, but the lasting measure of education is transformed lives, not material possessions.
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