Teacher beats class 8 pupil to death in Nakuru for failing test

Elizabeth Nyokabi, mother to David Ndung'u is overwhlemed during an interview with The Standard at her home in Arash village. The standard eight pupil is alleged to have been beaten by a teacher after he recorded low marks in Social Studies. October 17, 2016. PHOTO BY MERCY KAHENDA.

A primary school in Subukia is in the spotlight following the death of a Standard Eight pupil after he was allegedly beaten up by a teacher.

The teacher from Subukia Primary School is said to have descended on 14-year-old David Ndung'u with kicks and blows on October 3, after the boy performed dismally in Social Studies.

In a seeming case of corporal punishment, which the national government banned years ago, the teacher also accused Ndung'u of pulling the entire class backwards.

Elizabeth Nyokabi, the victim's mother, told The Standard her son had complained of a severe headache the day he was beaten.

"My son said he was feeling sick when he came back home that day. He later told me a teacher had beaten him severely for failing to score the minimum marks he had set for the class. He said the teacher caned him everywhere, including on the head," said Ms Nyokabi.

"He said he was considering not doing the KCPE exams because the teacher had given up on him and he was also tired of the beatings."

gave painkillers

Nyokabi said she gave her son painkillers but the headache did not go away.

"I took him to Subukia Hospital where he was treated and discharged," she said, but Ndung'u's condition worsened last Friday.

She took him back to the hospital and was referred to one in Nyahururu where he was admitted.

"By the time he was being admitted, my son was very weak. He could not walk on his own and I had to support him," said the distraught mother.

Around 9pm on Saturday, she received a call from a doctor telling her that Ndung'u had died.

"The news of my son's death shocked me. I had hoped he would recover," she said.

The victim's father, John Waweru, said he went to the school for an explanation but no one told him anything.

"I want action taken against the teacher to serve as an example to others," Mr Waweru said yesterday, adding that this was not the first case of a teacher beating up students.

"There have been numerous cases of teachers beating students, which has affected their academic performance; yet no action has been taken," Waweru said. "We want thorough investigations and the teacher responsible punished."

Yesterday, pupils and parents took to the streets to protest Ndung'u's death. They also demanded to know what the school administration was doing to curb corporal punishment as well as punish the teacher who beat up Ndung'u.

One of the parents, Mary Wangui, said Ndung'u was the second pupil from the school to die after being beaten by a teacher. Two years ago, she claimed, another pupil died after he was severely beaten by a teacher.

"We are very bitter. We want the head teacher to tell us why this is happening and what he is doing to ensure that justice is served."

Efforts to reach the head teacher were fruitless as no one seemed to know his whereabouts.

Although he was said to be at the sub-county education offices, The Standard established that he had not reported to the offices, which asre adjacent to the school.

Samuel Ngugi from the education office said they were investigating the matter.

"The matter was brought to our attention and investigations into the pupil's death are ongoing," said Mr Ngugi.

Area police boss Alex Ng'ang'a said the matter had been reported.

"We are waiting for a postmortem to establish the cause of death after which we can take action," said Mr Ng'ang'a.