Isiolo parents protest principal's transfer, threaten Parliament petition

Isiolo Governor Abdi Hassan.[Standard, File]

An impasse pitting parents, leaders and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has erupted over the impending transfer of the Isiolo Boys High School principal.

Disgruntled parents, led by Governor Abdi Hassan, are seeking to petition Parliament if the TSC does not rescind the planned transfer of Principal James Gituma, who they say has positively turned around the school’s performance.

They questioned why the teachers' commission would resort to such a move during the middle of the term and rejected any attempt to replace Gituma with a “non-performer.”

 “As parents and leaders in Isiolo we cannot gamble with our children’s future. We will not allow a non-performer to be brought to the school,” said Hassan.

The Governor and the board of management chairman, Mohammed Boru, highlighted Gituma's role in improving the school's mean score from 3.6 three years ago to 5.2 in 2023.

Hassan further took issue with TSC, claiming that one of its commissioners was behind the planned transfer of the principal in a bid to replace him with another from the commissioner’s ethnic community.

Hassan is now calling on the TSC to rescind its decision, failing which they will petition Parliament.

 “It seems we will have to petition the National Assembly. We will not allow them to mess up with our children when we are in the middle of the term and national exams are just four months away,” he said.

The school’s board of management chairman Mohammed Boru noted that the institution’s performance was on an upward trajectory.

 “Unfortunately, the commission has issued the principal with two transfers in two months yet he is keen on staying and helping the school soar even higher academically,” Boru said.

Attempts by The Standard to reach TSC Chairperson Jamleck Muturi for comment on the matter were futile.

Notably, before Gituma was confirmed as the school’s principal, he served as the Deputy Principal for seven years, deputizing Abdi Dida.

However, a moment before his confirmation, TSC attempted to install another principal but later reversed its decision following an intervention by the school’s management board.

"We are not ready to compromise the performance of the school. We are not against the transfer but we must be convinced that whoever is taking over is sober and not someone who is a poor performer," said area MCA Salesio Kiambi.

Some of the school's notable alumni during its heyday include Former Isiolo Governor Mohammed Kuti, Petroleum PS Mohammed Liban, and Isiolo North MP Joseph Samal.