Parents at war with principals over results

Parents have continued to turn their anger on head teachers over poor performance in last year’s national examinations.

Some parents have resorted to ejecting head teachers from schools while others are withdrawing their children from the institutions.

On January 3, parents from Makengi and Kanini Primary Schools in Mwimbi, Maara sub-county, closed down learning institutions and ejected head teachers.

They claimed the head teachers were sleeping on the job, leading to poor performance.

Mr Kaburu Mbaya, a parent at Kanini Primary School, said the head teacher had set a bad example for teachers.

“If you are leading people and they realise you are not committed, they also sleep on the job and this is where our main problem is,” said Mr Mbaya.

Mwimbi MCA Jones Kinegeni also blamed school heads for poor performance.

“It is surprising that pupils who transfer to other schools end up performing well. This is a clear indication that we have a problem with the way our institutions are managed,” said Mr Kinegeni.

At Ndiruni Primary School in Magumoni, Chuka/Igambang’ombe, parents arrived early on Monday and Tuesday to block the headteacher from accessing the institution.

On Tuesday, they demonstrated up to county education offices, where they demanded his transfer.

It took the intervention of the County Director of Education Grace Mutero to calm the situation.

Addressing the parents, Ms Mutero concurred with parents that it was not right for a board of management chair and school headteacher to be related.

She said the issue had come at the right time when the tenure of the management board had expired and that the right people would be nominated to steer the school.

On transfer of teachers, Mutero urged parents to be patient as her office investigated. “We cannot punish any teacher over hearsay,” she said.

She advised the parents to reopen school offices as investigations into the matter got underway.