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Stalemate Locks Out Students
The schools are Cardinal Otunga, Mosocho, St Paul's Amasago, Otamba in Kisii District, Sengera Girls in Gucha and Rangenyo Girls in Nyamira.
Angered by the sponsor's directive and the condemnation of the head teachers, Education Minister Kalonzo Musyoka ordered the schools reopened and warned the church against causing confusion in the institutions.
The minister told the sponsor to stop interfering with the management of the schools and reminded them of the limits of their roles.
But the church defied the order and through its education committee, accused the minister of high-handedness and having been misinformed over the matter.
As a result, panic has gripped parents, many of whom had paid fees and taken their children to the schools only to find the gates locked.
A number expressed anger over the move, saying it was wrong to punish students over a wrangle they knew nothing about. Kisii Catholic Bishop Okemwa Mairura mandated the diocese's Education Committee to ensure that the closure orders were not flouted "until further notice".
He was firm that the schools would not reopen until the five head teachers were transferred.
The five, some of whom have risen to the rank of senior principal in the same schools, have been accused by the sponsors of mismanaging the institutions.
Addressing a press conference in Kisii Town, the Diocese Education Committee members, who included Father Lawrence Nyaanga, Mr. Apolinaris Masese, Mr. Lawrence Mandere and Mr. Christopher Osinde, alleged that the row was being fuelled by the ministry.
The diocese maintained that the affected schools would remain closed and challenged the minister to redeploy the 130 Teachers Service Commission (TSC) teachers in the schools if he was dissatisfied with the order. The committee told the minister that the diocese could turn the schools into other development projects such as seminaries or convents.
"We call upon our church members to remain calm and united in prayer and ready for any action that the diocese may take," they said.
They claimed that the mismanagement accusations were genuine and that an agreement had earlier been reached that the transfers would be effected.
"We are surprised that the minister made such an order without finding out why we took the drastic step," Fr Osinde said.
The Education Committee maintained that Catholics had a right over management of schools they sponsored and "we feel it is our obligation to protect these rights at all costs".
The wrangles threaten to cripple the giant schools in the three Abagusii districts but elected leaders have kept out of the fray.
Those approached for comment over the issue retorted: "Leave me alone" or "We are busy with the South Mugirango parliamentary by-election."
The Kisii District Education Officer, Mr. Anthony Onyamwaro, and his Nyamira counterpart, Mr. Nathan Kiriago, and Gucha's Luke Onkoba, defended the headteachers in the five schools, saying as agents of the TSC and the ministry, they have not detected mismanagement in the schools.
They challenged the sponsor to prove their claims.
Mr. Onyamwaro said ministry auditors had not found anything untoward with the schools' accounts.
The DEO, however, admitted that some of the headteachers had been in the schools for the last 15 years but have not performed well. The sponsor has engaged in a campaign against the school managements by conducting a mass at or near the schools where they have denounced the headteachers.
But Nyanza provincial director of education, Mrs Rosyline Onyuka, expressed satisfaction with the teachers' work regarding management and academic performance.
She supported Mr. Musyoka's directive that the schools re-open.
However, the board chairmen of the schools, many of them priests in the diocese, have said the headteachers have been over-protected by the ministry and should leave.
"Why do the teachers object to transfers when some have been in the schools for more than 15 years?" asked Father Nyaanga.
The affected headteachers are Mr. CIeophas Ondieki (Cardinal Otunga), Mr. Samuel Isena (Amasago), Ms Theresa Mageto (Segera), Mrs Josephine Nyagwachi (Rangenyo) and John Nyaanga (Otamba).
"I have done my best to uplift the standard of the school for the last 12 years and last year for example the school was ranked 57th countrywide and took position two in Kisii District while it was among the top 10 schools in Nyanza," Ondieki said.
Cardinal Otunga alone will send more than 50 students to public universities from the performance of 1999 Form IV Exams. The 50 are those students who scored B minus and above, according to Mr. Ondieki who displayed the results as he explained.
Cardinal Otunga Mosocho was started way back 1960 at Nyabururu near Kisii Town and moved to its present destination in 1964. It has produced some of Kenya's top leaders, at the moment.
Currently Cardinal Otunga Mosocho has a population of 780 students 46 teachers.
St Pauls Amasago has 223 students, 20 teachers, St. Augustine Otamba has 245 students, with 21 teachers, they all fall under Kisii District.
The other two schools, Sengera in Gucha District has more than 500 students and 30 teachers while Rangenyo in Nyamira District has, 100 students and 10 teachers.
The Catholic Diocese of Kisii sponsor 400 primary schools, 115 secondary schools, 17 Polytechnics and one teacher training college all spread in the three Districts.
In the past taking up, the responsibility of heading schools was considered "A calling" but apparently nowadays, the appointments to leadership position has taken a different dimension.
There seems to be a "Scramble" for leadership in, our Education Institutions, most head of schools, members of the board of Governors and PTA members are actually appointed or voted on the belief that there is a lot to gain financially and politically.
This trend must change now for the betterment of Education Standards especially in Kisii, Nyamira and Gucha Districts.
