By Raisa Okwaras
Siaya County Children’s Officer Jemin Onyango has confirmed that the teacher who allegedly assaulted a standard 8 pupil at Nyamninia Primary School in Gem has been arrested.
This came in after a video went viral on social media showing the boy crying in pain and agony after the teacher beat him for not scoring 400 marks. In the clip, the boy was writhing in pain from numerous strokes of cane on his back and legs.
The Basic Education Act 2013 prohibited corporal punishment in Kenya in both schools and homes. Even though teachers have the right to administer reasonable punishment, they crossed the line in this case.
According to the boy, teachers use too much force and punish them if they fail to hit targets that they impose on them in internal examinations. Still, even if you decide to hold on, the more you do so, the worse your mistreatment gets.
“I would rather stay at home than go back to that school. I have been in that school for eleven years and it has become too much now. I have tried to hold on but the more I hold on, it gets worse,” he said.
“I think I should be able to achieve what I have in that marks that I have already got. But now what if they want to force 400 with me and I cannot achieve it, what now will I do?” he added.
Netizens were furious as to how teachers mistreat a child in school to the point they would rather stay at home than be in school.
This information got to the Ministry of Education which then, through the Permanent Secretary for Early Learning and Basic Education Dr.Julius Jwan, launched an investigation into the cruelty of teachers towards this pupil.
Siaya County Children’s Officer Jemin Onyango stated that the teacher will be arraigned in court on Monday, July 25, 2022.
Leave a Reply