There was unrest at St. Philips Rateti Secondary School in Nyamaiya ward Nyamira County on Wednesday after parents and students staged protests over the transfer of the school’s Principal Bernard Muloti.
Angry parents stormed the school to express their dissatisfaction over the unnecessary transfer of the school's head but were contained by the police who had already arrived at the institution.
They claimed the school had been doing badly in exams until last year when they received a new school principal with whom they had lots of expectations.
Efforts by the Nyamaiya Assistant County Commissioner Mike Too and West Mugirango Location Chief Livingstone Momanyi to address the parents went futile as the angry parents never listened to them.
"We want our Principal back and that has no negotiation. We had lots of expectations and we will not allow any other Principal in this institution," Margaret Gesare said.
Some of the students had already taken to the streets to protest the transfer.
The school was surrounded by police officers from Nyamira police station to prevent any possible attempts by parents to get into the school compound.
After a long walk from the school to the Nyamira Deputy County Commissioner’s office, the students were addressed by the Education officials including the County Director of Education Joshua Kaga and his Teachers Service Commission Director Catherine Mwenda.
“We have called and talked with the students and we will be having a meeting at the institution tomorrow so that we can hear the parent's and student's grievances before we advise on the way forward. For now, we cannot be able to pre-empty what we want to discuss when we hold the meeting at the school,” Mwenda told journalists.
The students were ferried back to the school as the county education office tried to resolve the issues surrounding the transfer of the school head, even as parents vowed to protest until the principal is reinstated.
“We will not rest until we have the principal back, he was our only hope in this school. We know what his presence would mean for the future of our children,” Maggy Nyamoita said.
