A teacher from St. Peter’s Catholic Primary School in Nakuru has been arrested for bribing the parents to Joyline Kaikai with Sh. 50,000 after he broke her arm while administering corporal punishment.
The girl, Joyline Koikai reported the matter to her mother who first dismissed the issue. Joyline claimed that she and her classmates were punished for failing to attain certain marks on an assessment test.
Days later, Joyline Kaikai’s mother noticed the severity of the broken arm when she saw her daughter in great pain. She was quick to rush her to a local hospital in Nakuru where an X-ray was conducted. It revealed that her arm was indeed broken. Joyline Kaikai has since missed school.
“She came home and told me they had been punished and I advised her that it was for her own benefit, only to notice that she kept on using her left arm whenever I assigned her house chores.” said Joyline’s mother.
After her hospital visit, the parent went to school to complain to the school administration. She was shocked to find out that the administration took sides with the teacher, claiming that she ought to consider the teacher’s future and career.
The teacher offered her Sh. 50,000 to buy her silence on the matter. The administration offered to exempt her from paying school fees for an entire academic year so that the matter would be forgotten.
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“They convened a meeting between the teacher and myself. He offered me Sh. 50,000 stating that if the matter was escalated, he would not only lose his job but also his career.” She said.
“In addition, the school offered to waive Joyline’s school fees for one academic year so that the matter would be forgotten.”
The mother was however persistent in reporting the matter to the police, ignoring the pretense of charity that the school was offering her.
This is the second case of severe punishment in less than a fortnight after a student from Kisumu was beaten for not attaining 400 marks in an exam. The student had a swollen back from the punishment. CS Magoha warned teachers against administering corporal punishment.
“It is totally against the law to apply any stick on a child, my personal opinion notwithstanding. It is savage to cane a child like an animal.” He said
“For those teachers, irrespective of their number, the TSC will deal with them. But for the police, you have work to do to ensure they face the full force of the law.”