Education Ministry shuts school for operating illegally

Closed: Tawheed Boys High school in Malindi sub-county.

The education department in Malindi Sub County has closed a secondary school for allegedly operating without a license.
 
Tawheed Boys High school located in a residential area in Malindi town was closed on Tuesday after officials from the ministry of education raided the premises.
 
The school has a population of 66 students by the time of closure. Malindi Sub County District Education Officer (DEO) Veronicah Kalungu said she decided to close the school after residents complained and upon searching she found out the institution had no registration papers from the ministry.
 
When journalists arrived at the premises, the head teacher turned them away and refused to respond to the allegations.
 
“I was forced to close  down the school after realising that it was operating  illegally, and was located in between rental apartments which goes against the rules and regulation of the education ministry,” said DEO Kalungu.
 
Kalungu said that the school which operates as day and boarding had been enrolling students from other counties while boarding students were forced to share a toilet and a tiny dormitory on the fifth floor of the building with grilled windows.
 
“Students of this school come from as far as Nairobi county, Lamu and even Mombasa county, how do you expect even the parents to know their children progress in such as school which is even not registered?” she asked.
 
According to the DEO, the fee structure was too high compared to other schools and compared it to daylight robbery.
 
“If you look at their fee structure boarding students pay 93,000 per year, while day ones pay 45,000 per year. This is a day light robbery to the parents, “she said.
 
She added that the 25 form four students in the school are registered to sit their examination in other schools and the teachers have no Teachers Service Commission (TSC) numbers.
 
“We have closed down more than 20 schools because of such issues. I want to tell parents to do a search of the schools they send their children to before enrollment,” she said.
 
Locals had complained of noise and bad behaviour by the students whom they accuse of molesting local wives and daughters.
 
“They used to shout unprintable words to our wives when and never cared if children were around or husbands were around,” said a resident.