NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 16 – The Government says it will not hesitate to prosecute parents and local community living near schools purporting to be protesting poor performance in the national examination.
In a statement to condemn Monday’s invasion of a school in Kakamega County, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu warned that any such invasion would be treated as a criminal act
Machogu said that a few cases of teacher harassment over claims of poor candidates’ performance have been witnessed in some schools since the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination results were released, which he says is unacceptable.
“The Ministry is disturbed by this unfortunate trend, which appears to create the impression that the burden of poor performance in examinations must be exclusively borne by teachers, especially the Head of Institution,” he said.
This came against the backdrop of a recent incident in Kakamega, where parents and boda boda riders invaded a secondary school and ejected the principal while chanting him down.
The CS has, however, told communities behind these regrettable attacks that learner achievement in examinations is the reflection of the overall input from all stakeholders, including parents, teachers and candidates themselves.
“In any case, the Ministry of Education and the Teachers Service Commission have put in place a robust and elaborate mechanism for evaluating the performance of teachers and field officers which always ensure non-performing staff are dealt with in accordance with existing laws and policies,” he said.
Machogu added that any stakeholder who will be aggrieved by perceived poor performance of schools in national examinations has been advised to follow legal means to report to relevant authorities for action.
