Sixty students at St Georges Greenland Senior Boys School in Nakuru County were shocked when they reported back to school only to find it had been converted to a girls-only institution.
The students learnt that school management had decided to convert the boys’ school starting January this year without informing them.
According to the school proprietor Mr George Gichimo, the boys had become unruly and undisciplined citing student unrest in 2017.
It has emerged, however, that the school did not communicate the decision to parents who only came to learn about it last week when their children reported back to school for the new term.
MATIANG’I
The parents are now seeking the intervention of acting Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.
Those affected include 16 students who were to proceed to Form Four this year. They now have to find new schools to register for end of year national examinations.
Students who spoke to Nation said they are encountering challenges as schools are turning them away, unwilling to admit new students who will sit for exams this year.
“We have been looking for schools that can integrate us but no one wants a new Form Four student in their school,” said a distressed Form 4 student.
Ms Judith Musimbi, a parent, said she took the student to the school in 2016 when he joined Form One and everything was running smoothly until three days ago when she was turned away after taking her son for a new term.
She said no meeting was held to inform the parents on the plans to close down the school.
“On January 5, I deposited Sh15,000 and took my son to school and found the principal who informed me that the owner of the school had decided that the school should be shut down,” said Ms Musimbi.
LETTERS
Letters addressed to the parents indicated that the students had cleared with the school and had been transferred at their own will.
“The boys have put the rest of the students at risk.We want to work hard to bring more girls to the school and make it a girls’ only school,” he stated.
According to one of the students, however, there has only been one case of unrest which occurred following a protest over a meal that that was not properly prepared.
He noted that he had the right to stop the school since he is allowed by the Constitution to use the property for any purpose.
Mr Gichimo said the management had made arrangements to have the students integrated in other schools. He said already parents who had deposited school fees in school accounts had been refunded their money.
The county education office dispatched a team on Tuesday morning to ascertain the claims after receiving complaints on Monday evening.
“A team is already handling the matter but I urge parents who have encountered incidences to report to the education offices immediately,” the County Director for Education Mr Isaac Nyang’au said.