Preachers in Kenyan schools to be vetted

Nairobi, Kenya: No preacher will be allowed to hold sermons in schools without being vetted, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has declared.

The shepherds whose aim is to win souls when still young, and operate mostly as itinerant preachers, will now have to be cleared by the relevant religious leaders before being allowed to step into any school with the purpose of talking to students.

Matiang'i acknowledged the constitution's provision of freedom of worship but insisted that it should be practiced with a measure of responsibility: "It is important for students to be shielded from destructive religious ideas and ideologies.

High schools are the most notorious with the practice of inviting preachers every Sundays and during the famous ‘weekend challenges’ to impart the teenagers with religious guidance.

He also expressed the need to review religious education curriculum for it to impart interfaith values of tolerance, communal living and celebrate diversities that define the nation and the global environment.

"We must reject the notion that radicalism, it is just but a criminal ideology. The Muslim community has long been tormented and suffered a lot because of this," Dr Matiang'i noted.

Matiang'i was speaking during the closure of a two day workshop organised by the Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslim (Supkem) and experts in Islamic Religious Education(IRE) where a new IRE curriculum was unveiled.

He asked the religious leaders to address the menace of radicalization of students, saying parents should also be involved in ensuring that children were not infiltrated with wrong ideologies in the name of faith.

He lauded Supkem for developing a new curriculum for IRE, saying it will help re-orient learners to the values and morals that promote tolerance and human dignity for all.

Supkem National Chairman Prof Abdulghafur El Busaidy said that the proposed curriculum will help promote the basic understanding that on what all religions are, in essence, and interpretations of divine revelation.

"The curriculum aims at imparting wholesome education to develop a 21st century person capable to cope with the rapidly changing world without compromising their cultures and traditions," said Supkem Deputy vice chair His deputy Hassan Ole Naado.