The five female teachers at Kirimon Primary School in Samburu who were ambushed and beaten by pupils on Monday, will be transferred, the Teachers’ Service Commission has said.
They were beaten by standard six pupils and have demanded to be transferred from the school, citing insecurity.
TSC chief executive officer Nancy Macharia (pictured) yesterday assured teachers that their security is paramount and the commission will not relent on ensuring teachers are protected.
The teachers said the pupils, who were armed with clubs and pangas, attacked them immediately they entered the classrooms and held them hostage.
They forced them to kneel down before the rest of the class and raise their hands up.
“I want to assure you that the TSC has taken action and we are going to transfer those teachers from that school. Our county director has instructions to redeploy them to another school, which is safer for them,” Macharia said.
She addressed more than 8,000 secondary school principals in Mombasa during the fourth day of the 42nd Kenya Secondary School Heads’ Association Annual Conference.
“Our teachers, as they dispense their duties, people must recognise their worth. Nobody is going to cane our teachers again, because the moment you touch a teacher, you have touched the TSC,” Macharia said.
The Samburu incident had been raised by the Kessha national chairman Indimuli Kahi, who said it was very wrong for children to gang up and clobber their teachers. He said the action was like “undressing the teachers in public”.
“Teachers are always being told not to cane students. Here we have students who cane us and walk away without any action been taken,” Kahi said.
He said he has been following the story since Monday, but he has not heard any word from the TSC or any government official.
Kahi said there is fear among teachers this might become a trend countrywide. “If I was the one who had caned them [students], by now action would have been taken. What action will be taken against those students to realise that they made a mistake?” Kahi asked.
The children, who attacked the teachers, claimed they had suffered at the hands of the female teachers, who have been chasing them away from school without proper reason.