Knut has raised concerns over increased cases of teachers being attacked by students.
The latest incident involved a Nakuru teacher who was killed last week. Two students have since been arrested over the murder.
In a letter to the Teacher Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia and chairperson Lydia Nzomo, Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion partly blamed performance appraisals for the incidents.
He said the evaluation system has “armed learners to very dangerous levels” against their teachers by mandating students to "police and monitor" their mentors.
“It is perturbing and quite distressing to find that a student is policing his/her mentor using government documents. This is a grave issue that needs to be addressed to restore the integrity of the teaching profession and the dignity of teachers,” Sossion said in the letter dated January 28.
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On January 24, Peter Omare, a physics teacher at Hopewell High School at Barut in Nakuru county was allegedly attacked and killed by two students for confiscating their mobile phone.
The school administration said one of the students was from the same school while the other was from a neighbouring school.
Omare was attacked as he walked home in the evening and hit by a blunt object that opened up his skull.
Sossion said the murder is an indication of a failed Quality Assurance and Standards System that now poses danger to the successful delivery of sustainable and equitable education in the country.
“If students can plan and execute the murder of their teacher, it means no teacher is safe in the school environment,” he said.
Sossion called on the Education ministry and the TSC to step in and protect teachers and restore the diminishing respect towards them.
Assault cases
Sossion noted that over the past three years, hundreds of teachers have been attacked by students with parents joining the fray in extreme cases.
Majority of the cases occurred after teachers took disciplinary action against students.
Among the most highlighted case include that of July 2 last year where six non-local teachers were critically injured by students at Chalbi Boys High school, Marsabit.
Parents at the school sided with their children and shielded them from arrest.
They claimed three of the teachers had been intimidating and provoking their children over the cancellation of the 2017 KCSE examination results.
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A similar case was reported at Kirimon Primary school in Samburu where boys beat up two female teachers for caning them in front of girls.
Both schools were closed for several days
The indiscipline cases were also reported at Maeto Primary school in Kuria West, Matioli Primary in Kakamega East, Toniok Girls secondary school in Eldama Ravine, Arabia primary in Mandera, Qarsa primary in Wajir, and Itenyi primary in Kakamega.
Other cases were at Khorof-Harar primary and secondary schools in Wajir East, Kanyadhiang primary in Karachuonyo, and Wajir Bor, Riba, Sarman, Kutulo and Tarbaj schools in Wajir.
Non-local teachers staged a mass exodus from some of the schools in North Eastern following the assault cases.
Sossion said the acts of mob justice have left teachers traumatised and unable to discharge their roles to expected standards.
He said the cases have set a very bad precedent as teachers are no longer willing to discipline learners for fear of being molested.
“The society has been tuned to focus on teacher discipline and not student discipline,” he said.
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