Magoha condemns brutal punishment of pupil for not attaining 400 marks
Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has strongly condemned an incident in which two teachers at Nyamninia Primary School in Gem sub-county allegedly assaulted a class eight candidate for failure attain 400 marks.
The CS has said corporal punishment is outlawed corporal in learning institutions and that the teachers in question, if found culpable, would face assault charges.
“Every child in Kenya matters and every child is important. Let this be a warning,” Magoha said.
Prof Magoha also pointed out that caning students in such a manner is only likely to result in rebellion from the learners.
“It is savage to cane a child like you are canning an animal. Anybody who did some teaching and pedagogy at any level know that if a child has performed well and you want the child to perform better, caning will not yield the desired results,” Magoha said.
The two teachers who have been implicated in the incident are being held at Yala Police Station and will be arraigned in court on Monday to answer to assault charges.
The plight of the student was captured in an amateur viral video that showed him crying bitterly, with his body covered in bruises, as he vows not to go back to the school.
“It is better I stay without going to school, the marks that I scored are to the best of my ability. Why must I be beaten when I can’t attain 400 marks? We are really suffering, there is little food in the school,” lamented the pupil in the amateur video clip.
According to the child’s mother, this is not the first time the pupil is facing the wrath of the teachers.
“The first time I was informed of the heinous punishment that the learners undergo while in school, I was shocked; a teacher apparently teacher stripped my son naked and caned him in that state. Does it mean that, for the candidates to pass, they must go through hell?” said the distraught mother.