The Teachers Service Commission says it will not return six teachers recalled from Ndooni Primary School in Kitui after the murder of Daisy Mbaluka until their security is assured.
Kitui TSC director Fredrick Ng’ang’a said the teachers' security was paramount.
He spoke to the Star in his office in Kitui town on Thursday, a day after pupils at Ndooni in Kitui East reported back to school to find no teachers.
The school was closed three days after Mbaluka, a Kiswahili and Mathematics teacher, was hacked to death with a panga and her body burned beyond recognition.
On the first day of the new term, a group of parents staged a demonstration at the school over what they alleged as poor KCPE performance.
However it has since emerged that the teacher’s killing had nothing to do with the poor KCPE results.
Kitui East MP Nimrod Mbai and the security team led by Mutitu subcounty police commander Consaga Malasi visited the school late on Tuesday and assured the community that no teacher was facing any threat.
It was agreed then that parents should allow children to resume learning on Wednesday. Kitui county director of education Salesa Adano confirmed that it had been agreed the school should reopen immediately.
“Should there be an issue, there should be a sustainable way of resolving it. That is why the government and all stakeholders have to meet to ensure learning resumes immediately. The government went there, met the parents and agreed learning should resume,” Adano said.
But TSC director Ng’ang’a said even if the school had reopened, the TSC's concern the security of teachers.
“TSC did not close the school. We do not wield such powers. We only withdrew the six TSC employed teachers once their lives were threatened and tension was high at the school. Once we are sure the community will ensure the teacher are save, we will take them back,” he said.
Eight people including the late Mbaluka’s husband Lawrence Mbindi Ndolo are being held by police in connection with the her killing. The court in Kitui has allowed sleuths to hold the suspects for 21 days as they conclude investigations.
