Education

Kisii schools set to open

Details

Published on Saturday, 09 June 2007 01:15

Five Kisii schools which have not opened for the First Term will now allow in students on January 30 2005.

The government yesterday bowed to pressure from the Catholic Church, the schools' sponsor, and agreed to remove the headteachers of Cardinal Otunga, Rangenyo Girls, St Augustine's Otamba Secondary, Sengera Girls and St Paul's Amasago. During a meeting of senior Education Ministry officials and Catholic bishops, the government agreed to allow the schools' deputy headteachers to run the schools until a report on the management of the schools is out.

"In view of the urgent need to get teaching and learning to begin, respective deputy headteachers will be deployed temporarily to take over leadership of the five schools immediately," said a statement released by the Teachers Service Commission. It was signed by the chief inspector of schools, Mr. Daniel Rono, and the Right Reverend Joseph M. Okemwa, the bishop of Kisii.

However, the affected headteachers will not be interdicted and were told to wait for communication from the TSC on their next posting, depending on the outcome of the inspectorate report. Senior ministry officials inspected the schools last week against the wishes of the Church. There has been controversy following an order by the Catholic Church that the five schools remain closed until the headteachers are transferred. The church, which wanted the headteachers transferred, claimed that they had mismanaged the schools. On Wednesday, the Kenya National Union of Teachers criticized the Church over the matter. It termed the Church's decision to close the schools as "drastic and unprocedural". It was also against the Education Act, the union said.

Knut also criticized parents and politicians who chased away teachers and closed schools, saying this was against regulations governing school management. The Catholic secretariat's secretary-general, Fr Michael Charo Ruwa, accused Mr. Musyoka on Wednesday of making "irrelevant" statements concerning the three-week standoff."He (Musyoka) was speaking out of ignorance and contempt," he said in a statement on behalf of the Kenya Episcopal Conference. Mr. Musyoka had been quoted in the Press as saying that the closure of the schools was illegal and that it was wrong for the church to "incite parents and teachers to close schools."

However, his order that the schools be reopened were ignored. Some parents in Kisii supported the Church and insisted that the teachers be moved.