Ministry of Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu on Friday, condemned the transfer of all teachers from St Gabriel Isongo Secondary School in Kakamega County by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in Kenya.
The transfer came after some parents of learners invaded the school premises and manhandled the school’s principal, with another staff.
Reports said the angry parents attacked the school in protest over alleged poor performance of candidates in the recent Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.
As a response to ensure the security of their staff, TSC transferred all 17 teachers to other institutions, leaving the school with only eight Board of Management (BoM) staff. This meant that the school could no longer proceed with learning activities effectively.
According to the education CS, TSC’s decision to transfer all teachers from the school undermined the rights of learners to basic education as stated in the country’s Constitution.
“Any decisions we take concerning institutions of basic education must be informed by these key considerations (children’s right to education). I hope the regional directors, the county and directors and the principal secretary are getting this clearly,” he said while speaking at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi during the 2024 Elimu Scholarship Programme launch.
Mr. Machogu condemned the attacks on teachers, describing the incident as “unfortunate”. He urged authorities to act against those who attacked the school, so that innocent children will not be deprived of learning.
“At all times, we must not undermine the rights of children to free and compulsory basic education. While the invasion of schools and attacks on teachers are unfortunate, and we can’t allow that to continue, we have to adopt careful, systematic and consultative means of ensuring we don’t deprive innocent children of their right to education. Those concerned should be taken to court. That’s a registered school and we can’t close it down,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers had urged the TSC to withdraw teachers from violence-prone locations for safety reasons
The CS is in charge of the ministry and schools, while TSC is an independent constitutional commission responsible for the employment of teachers.