Litein High Teachers Seek Transfers
Teachers at Litein Boys High School are calling for immediate transfers, insisting they won’t return to school after students were sent home due to the clashes that occurred last month.
Speaking to the media on Thursday through the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers (KUPPET), the teachers expressed feeling threatened and stated they wouldn’t be prepared to welcome students back on Tuesday, as the government has directed.
Mary Rotich, the KUPPET Kericho Executive Secretary, urged the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to promptly recall all teachers, claiming they were unfairly singled out after the school’s management imposed hefty fines on parents to cover the damages.
The union has voiced that the teachers feel targeted and disrespected, warning that returning to school could put their safety at risk.
”I call upon the TSC to withdraw all teachers from Litein High so that we can go back to the drawing board. We need teachers to be respected and their dignity to be held high,” Rotich said.
Adding that: ”We are being labelled as though we were waiting for this strike to get some amount from parents. To correct this thinking, I call upon the TSC to recall all the teachers so that we can discuss and agree before anything else goes on.”
The teachers reported that during the protests at the school on September 21, they suffered property damage amounting to millions of shillings.
This situation unfolded after the school decided to close its doors indefinitely, following a chaotic episode where students went on a rampage, even setting parts of the school ablaze.
The unrest reportedly kicked off when the administration denied students the chance to watch the highly anticipated English Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City.
Efforts to reopen the school a week later were unsuccessful, as it seemed the boys were already planning another protest upon discovering that the principal had not been transferred, despite their earlier demonstrations.
On Tuesday, parents took legal steps against the school administration, contesting a hefty damage bill that followed the recent turmoil. In their petition, they labeled these charges as unclear and unjustified.
They raised concerns about the requirement for each student to pay Ksh49,000, arguing that this amount significantly exceeds the actual damage caused by the students.
Litein High Teachers Seek Transfers
