High Court stops CS Fred Matiang’i order on school management

Education CS Fred Matiang'i

The High Court on Friday stopped a directive that secondary and primary schools sharing compounds be led by one headteacher and merge their boards.

Justice George Odunga ordered that the directive by Education CS Fred Matiang'i be halted until a case filed by Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) is heard and determined.

The union says the decision was not reached by consensus by education sector players and would hurt the learning process in the affected schools.

“There was never any consultation or public participation prior to the announcement and introduction and implementation of the policy to merge the management of the existing schools,” the teachers' union, through lawyer John Mbaluto, said.

In Nairobi, some of the schools that were to be affected include St Georges Girls School, which shares a compound with St Georges Primary School, Nairobi Milimani Secondary and Nairobi Milimani Primary schools.

Matiang'i gave the directive when he launched the Form One selection process. He said the idea would solve the problem of who owns what in the compound.

The decision meant that a number of headteachers would lose their positions and some would be demoted to the position of deputy principal.