263 Students Stranded After Teachers Fail to Report to School

The fate of 263 pupils including 17 KCPE candidates of a school in Elgeyo Marakwet County is uncertain after teachers failed to report back to school on Monday, January 4. 

Teachers at the school complained that they had not been paid salaries since January 2020.

A day after schools across the country reopened after the Covid-19 pandemic break, the students were greeted by an empty staffroom.

Parents at Flourspar Primary School on January 5, 2021

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The primary school was a private school owned by the Kenya Fluorspar Company which halted its operations in 2016. 

The school was then transferred to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining.

Hosea Toroitich, the school’s Parents Association Chairperson said that the students have since gone back home but the fate of the 17 KCPE candidates is still in limbo.

He added that the teachers seemed very adamant in their demand for the one-year pay.

This came as the government vowed to crack down on parents who had not released their school-going children back to class.  

The Ministry of Education however holds that the school is still registered as a private institution.

County Director of Education Kituyi Masibo told journalists that the process of converting the school to a public institution has started. 

This is one of the teething problems that parents, teachers, students and the government have had to grapple with as schools reopen. 

As the rest of the teachers teaching public schools continued to receive their pay despite the suspension of learning in March 2020, tutors at Fluorspar Day and Boarding Primary School were left out due to the institution's private status.

A past learning session at Flourspar Primary School

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