The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has undertaken the transfer of six educators from St. Martin Mafuta School in Soy, Uasin Gishu County. Education stakeholders have expressed concerns about the targeted nature of these transfers, raising apprehensions about the well-being of the affected teachers during their tenure at the institution.
This decision by TSC was prompted by an unsettling incident where parents at the school took drastic action, chasing both the principal and teachers. The catalyst for this aggressive reaction was the school’s dismal performance in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KSCE) exams.
According to a parent who spoke to the media during the incident, the school obtained a mean grade of E, with the top-performing student scoring a D+.
TSC’s response to this situation involves the transfer of teachers, a measure aimed at appeasing disgruntled parents, ensuring the safety of educators, and facilitating the resumption of classes. However, despite the reopening of the school, it now grapples with substantial challenges due to an insufficient number of teachers to sustain its operations.
As a consequence of the government-employed teachers being transferred, parents are now burdened with the cost of hiring private teachers. On January 18, a similar scenario unfolded when TSC transferred 17 teachers from St. Gabriel Isongo in Kakamega County. Parents protested the school’s poor KCSE results, leading to the removal of the principal. This action was taken to safeguard the well-being of teachers, responding to pressure from various unions demanding assurances of teacher protection.
Remarkably, both incidents occurred despite a stern warning from Education CS Ezekiel Machogu on January 19. Machogu cautioned parents against storming schools over poor results, emphasizing that such actions would be treated as criminal offenses. In the 2023 KCSE exam, a total of 48,174 out of 899,453 candidates scored a mean grade of E, highlighting the broader challenges within the education system that need attention.