Three secondary schools closed in Taita Taveta county

 

Students on their way to school in Nyeri Town on August 28, 2024, amid strikes by Kuppet members. [Kibata Kihu, Standard]

Three secondary schools have been closed indefinitely after principals released students to avert riots as teachers demonstrated in Taita Taveta County.

As tension builds up in schools, Kenyatta Boys High School, a national school in the region, Kituri and Eldoro Girls High Schools become the latest institutions to be closed in the region.

On Monday, Kenyatta Boys students staged a walkout and camped at the main gate where the Chief Principal Kaguta Macharia addressed them and ordered them out.

“I have heard your concerns. Those who want to remain in school can do so while those who can, can go home,” the principal told the students.

At Kituri, the situation was the same. The new Principal William Mwandigha released all the students except Form Fours who were left behind to prepare for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.

And at Eldoro Girls, a parent, Lewis Mzae, said all students had been released from school.

Kuppet has since called off the strike after reaching a deal with their employer. Secretary General Akelo Misori said they had agreed on most of the sticking issues.

But earlier, union officials in the county had vowed to stage more protests tomorrow.

Kuppet branch organising secretary Edwin Nyabuto said they had notified Wundanyi Police Station OCS of their intention to hold a peaceful protest in Wundanyi.

“We are aware that our first demand of honouring the last phase of our CBA 2021-2025 has been honoured. But we have many more pending issues which have not been addressed fully by the employer,” noted Nyabuto.

He noted that among the pending issues include the conversion of all the 46,000 JSS interns to permanent and pensionable terms and comprehensive medical cover.

“We have not received any commitment from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) about the review of career progression guidelines which is causing stagnation of teachers in one job group for many years.

The TSC has not committed itself to open a window for new CBA negotiations,” Nyabuto told The Standard outside Wundanyi Police Station after notifying the police.

The union officials disclosed other pending issues including the issue of acting administrators in Asal areas which had not been addressed and the promotion of members.

“We will stage a protest in Wundanyi town tomorrow to press harder until all demands are met by the commission,” said Nyabuto.

He advised parents to keep their children at home since their security could not be assured.

“No teacher will be held culpable because teachers are participating in a legally protected strike,” he said.

Gibson Mwaluma, a parent at Dr Aggrey High School in Taita Sub County said the candidates were bearing the brunt of the strike.

However, he said Form Four students were still in school and preparing for the KCSE exam, scheduled for October 22 to November 1.

Mwaluma expressed fears that the strike would affect students’ performance since they are yet to cover syllabuses in most subjects.

“It is only heads and their deputies who are in school, the rest are at home,” he noted.