Parents protest bid to make students repeat classes

Some parents have protested at a school management decision to make students repeat Form Three.

St Augustine Maziwa Secondary in Trans Nzoia County has refused to allow more than 10 Form Three students to proceed to Form Four and sit this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination, citing poor performance.

Only students who scored a mean score of C have been allowed to register as candidates with those posting lower grades have been asked to either repeat or seek admission elsewhere.

The parents accompanied by their children matched to Bidii location Chief Julius Onyancha’s office to demand the removal of the principal, Stephen Barasa.

Marceline Wafula said she was shocked when her daughter was asked to repeat Form Three for scoring less than a mean score of C, and yet she had paid fees.

 Different school

“The principal told me to look for a different school for my daughter and then come back for a refund,” said Ms Wafula.

Another parent, Hellen Wanyonyi, claimed her daughter has been made to repeat one class for two years and that this had discouraged her.

The principal declined to speak to journalists when they visited the school. County Director of Education Dickson Ongonya told The Standard he had directed the principal to admit the affected students.

"The case has been handled by my officers," said Mr Ongonya.