• The girl students had surrounded the teachers’ residence and demanded that they leave.
• The school principal said the turbulence was caused by Form 4s
Image: /THE STAR
Anti-riot police were Monday night deployed to Muthale Girls Secondary School in Kitui West subcounty after students threatened to cause mayhem, demanding an extension to night-time private study hours.
A contingent of police officers from Ndolo’s Corner police station arrived to find raucous students surrounding the teachers' staff quarters. They demanded that all teachers resident in the school leave the compound.
The police officers managed to calm down the students and herded them back to their dormitories.
There was still tension in the school on Tuesday morning and several police officers remained to keep vigil and prevent any further chaos or destruction of property.
School principal Hellen Awour informed police that she believed the brief night turbulence at the school was caused by misguided Form 4 students.
Awour said she did not understand why the students were restless as the school had allowed them enough time to study on their own.
The students study up to 10pm and go to bed at 11pm. In the morning, they wake up at 3am to study but the official time is 4am.
“They stay awake. There is no going to sleep. They are left to study throughout and only go to bed when they are exhausted. They wake up any time they wish. Actually, I would say this [demand for more time] has caught me unawares,” the principal said.
She said it was clear that the students wanted the school administration to extend the private study time, but they were not talking to the authorities about it.
“I have told them you must talk so that we can listen to you. If it is something you are not happy about, you tell us so that we can see what can be done about it. But they are not ready. It is mainly the Form 4s,” Awour said.
Muthale Girls School is a high-performing institution that is well regarded in Kitui county.
Over the years, it has registered sterling performances in the KCSE exam, earning a place in the top 100 schools nationally.