Teachers at Litein Boys High School are demanding immediate transfers, vowing not to go back to school after students were sent home following the skirmishes witnessed last month.
The teachers who spoke to the media on Thursday through the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers (KUPPET) said that they felt threatened and that they would not be ready to receive the students on Tuesday as per the government's directive.
KUPPET Kericho Executive Secretary Mary Rotich urged the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to immediately recall all the teachers, arguing they were unfairly targeted after the school’s management imposed heavy fines on parents to cover damages.
According to the union, the teachers feel targeted and disrespected, and they warn that returning to the school could put them 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 claimed that during the protests witnessed at the school on September 21, their property worth millions of shillings was destroyed.
The developments come after the school closed indefinitely after students went on a destructive rampage, setting parts of the school on fire.
The unrest reportedly began after the administration denied the students an opportunity to watch the much-anticipated English Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City.
Attempts to reopen the school a week after the incident failed. Reportedly, the boys showed signs of planning another strike after learning that the principal had not been transferred despite their protests.
On Tuesday, parents took legal action against the school administration to challenge the imposition of a hefty damage bill following recent unrest at the institution. In their petition, the parents described the levies as unexplained charges.
They questioned the rationale behind requiring each student to pay Ksh49,000, arguing that the amount far exceeds the actual damage caused by the learners.
