Irate parents storm school over headmaster's incompetence

Parents and residents of Kamacharia, Murang’a County on Monday morning stormed Kiriithiru Primary School. They were demanding for the transfer of the headmaster whom they blamed for a myriad of issues.

The headmaster, Mr Charles Gathara, is unpopular among parents and locally-based old boys and girls of the school. The irate parents and residents gathered at the nearby Kamacharia shopping center before proceeding to the school. They were chanting slogans, and waving placards which read, “Gathara must go!”

The school, located in Kamacharia Division, Mathioya Sub-County, saw learning interrupted for the better part of the day as the protesters stormed the headmaster’s office. “You are no longer the head teacher here,” they told him after relieving him of his duties.  He has been given four days to vacate his office. In the meantime, his deputy, a Mrs Muchori, is the acting headmistress.

The protesters, most of them traders and farmers, had closed their premises and left their farming activities to participate in the demonstration.  “Today I vowed not to report for work,” stated Evans Chege Gichuki, a vocal local. “It would be odd if I reported for work while the rest of the residents are lobbying for our children’s welfare,” He added.

The name Mr Gathara grates on the nerve of many residents who feel that the protest was long overdue. According to the protesters, the manner in which the headmaster had been conducting school affairs is contrary to popular opinion.

Among the allegations leveled against the headmaster include; uttering disrespectful remarks, ill-conceived policies, discrimination against some pupils and parents, misusing school funds, poor performance, and arrogance.

There has been wanton destruction of trees within the school compound under his watch, with the headmaster allegedly using the proceeds for personal gain. He is also accused of selling firewood from the indiscriminately felled trees. He then imposed a levy for the buying of firewood for cooking the porridge which the pupils are served in the school.

In a classic case of rebranding gone wrong, he proved unpopular among parents who felt greatly inconvenienced when he demanded a change of the school uniform shortly after his transfer to the school.

One parent who wanted to transfer her child to the school complained of how the headmaster declined to admit the pupil due to alleged political reasons. The hurt parent had to transfer her child to another school, further away. Many parents have transferred their children from the school. Currently, the school has a population of about 150 pupils.

Poor performance is, perhaps, what sparked the locals’ anger. In 2015, for instance, only two pupils attained over 300 marks. The headmaster was purported to have blacklisted a nearby nursery school, Bidii Preparatory School, from the list of ECD schools. The pupils from this school would have been admitted to Kiriithiru Primary School. Bidii Preparatory School is owned by Lydia Wambui Macharia, a seasoned teacher and darling to the locals most of whom were taught by her.

The school committee has also been disbanded. It emerged that among the over decade-long serving committee members was a PCEA worshipper, yet the primary school is ACK-sponsored.

Before the demonstration, there had been discomfort in the nearby Mukui Primary School after there was a report that the headmaster would be transferred there.

Meanwhile, Murang’a North District Education Officer has assured the parents that they will get a new headmaster.