Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has condemned the assault of a class eight pupil at Nyamninia Primary School for failing to attain 400 marks in an internal school assessment test.
The CS said that since the law is against corporal punishment, the teacher who has since been arrested should be laid off.
“It is totally against the law to apply any stick on a child as the law currently stands, my personal opinion notwithstanding. It is savage to cane a child like you are caning an animal,” CS Magoha said.
“Anybody who did some teaching and pedagogy at any level should know that if the child has performed well and you want them to do better, caning will not improve, it will just inspire some rebellion from the child.”
The CS in his tour of Siaya county asked that the Teacher Service Commission expedite the probe and procedurally dismiss the teacher whose actions have not only caused an uproar among Kenyans but also a pain to pupils and their parents.
“For those teachers irrespective of their number, I think the TSC will deal with them but you as NGAO has work to do to ensure they face the full force of the law. Every child in Kenya matters,” he said.
Magoha while addressing the media after inspecting the CBC class at Wagwer Mixed Secondary School reiterated that it is unlawful to apply corporal punishment saying it should be tamed at all costs.
“You must not touch the child, call the parents of the child let them come and take the child home and we start from there,” he advised.
“If I as the cabinet secretary cannot cane a child, who do you think you are as an ordinary teacher to cane someone’s child like that? And for no reason at all, just that you want the child to score more than 400.”
The class eight pupil identified as Bravin Ochido was reportedly whipped on Wednesday this week for failing to attain 400 marks in an internal exam. The assault left him with injuries on his back and legs and prompted action by authorities after the outcome and his complaints were recorded on video.
