How bullies forced out Alliance High School principal
Alliance High School Principal David Kariuki has quit following allegations of bullying at the school where scores of students were injured.
The bullying is said to have been carried out by prefects and seniors students for a long period of time at the school with the school management taking no action.
Parents of the children raised an alarm with the Ministry of Education early this year prompting an investigation.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has since accepted the request from Mr Kariuki to retire early before attaining age 60.
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Mr Kariuki declined to discuss the issue as he did not respond to text message or return call only indicating that he was in a meeting.
But Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has protested the decision to kick out Mr Kariuki saying it was being done on flimsy grounds.
“It is unfair to kick out Mr Kariuki while other principals are being promoted. The Ministry of Education is behind the decision,” said Mr Sossion.
Alliance High School has on a number of occasions topped KCSE ranking with Mr Kariuki at the helm.
The Ministry of Education conducted the investigations in January and February at the school in which several students and teachers were interrogated.
MATIANG’I ADMITTED
On Monday, while speaking at Utawala Academy in Nairobi, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i admitted that the Ministry was carrying out investigations into allegations of bullying of Form One students in secondary schools.
“The Ministry received several complaints of mistreatment of students in the school. It has been an investigation that has been going on for long and is not related to last year’s drop in form four examinations at all. TSC was involved in this investigations,” said a source at the Ministry.
The board of management of the school was shocked with the report and moved first to have Mr Kariuki hand over the management of the school.
SLEEP LIKE RATS
He did that on Tuesday. He had requested to leave the institution by March.
Another meeting at the school is set for Saturday in a bid to ensure smooth transition when students will have returned from half term break.
“The meeting is for old boys. They want to put their case across that the changes are being made in the good interest of students,” said a source at the school.
On Monday, Dr Matiang’i said children must stay in schools where they are treated well, saying bullying and mistreatment of students was a “primitive” and “backward” practice.
He said it was important that Education officials not only visit but experience the school and ensure that children sleep, eat and learn from.
“You cannot run a school where children sleep like rats and you have a nice office,” Dr Matiang’i said.
