Rift Valley tops shame list of teachers who defile learners

By Sam Otieno

Rift Valley Province tops the list of cases of teachers defiling their students, according to new statistics released by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

The report indicates that 600 teachers were accused of defiling their pupils in a span of five years. Out of the reported cases, less than 10 were boys sodomised by their teachers.

The shocking statistics compiled by the TSC disciplinary section also indicate a trend where female teachers also defile male students.

The report only captures the reported cases. In many of the cases that go unreported, the offenders collude with parents and administrators by offering parents cash for silence.

Only one case was reported in Nairobi, a trend the commission attributed to increased awareness in city schools.

Teachers Service Commission Chairman Ibrahim Hussein releases statistics on sexual abuse by teachers, in his Nairobi office Thursday. [PHOTO: COLLINS KWEYU/STANDARD]

Rift Valley, probably because of its sheer geographical size, recorded 137 cases followed by Nyanza with 109. Western recorded 100 cases, Central 99, Eastern 95, Coast 54, and North Eastern five.

TSC Chairman Ibrahim Hussein in an exclusive interview with The Standard said the cases are rampant in primary schools, compared to secondary schools.

"Our target is that we should not have even one case reported," said Hussein.

Five hundred and eighty teachers of 600 were found guilty of the offence that shames the teaching profession. But 16 teachers were acquited for lack of evidence. Four other cases are still awaiting investigations.

Sent home

Of those found guilty, 375 were dismissed and their names removed from the register of teachers. The remaining 205 were dismissed, but their names were not struck off the register.

Hussein attributed the low number of cases in North Eastern Province to cultural practices.

In the province, citizens take law into their own hands and discipline the teachers.

The cases were higher in 2004 at 140, compared to 122, which were reported last year.

"In some cases the accused teachers end up marrying the students, making it hard for the commission to take appropriate action," said Hussein.

He said disciplinary panels get baffled, when accused teachers appear with written agreements. But where a deal between the teacher and the guardians go sour then the accusers forwarded the matter to the commission for action.

Hussein said TSC has conducted capacity building seminars for more than 20,000 teachers to show them the sensitivity of the matter.

He said the commission is embracing teacher trade unions, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) to stamp out the vice.

But the commission, he said, is constrained because it does not have qualified criminal investigators who can probe whether the crime happened.

"Our investigators do not have the capacity and equipment to check for DNA or collect specimen evidence, when such cases are reported," said Hussein.

But he pointed out investigators normally track instances that could lead to sexual relations.

"It is an offence for a teacher to sleep with a student on the same bed even if it nothing happens. It is also wrong for teachers to send students of the opposite sex to their houses," said Hussein.

Early this week, First Lady Lucy Kibaki expressed anger over rising cases of teachers defiling their students. But Hussein said TSC would never have mercy on those implicated.

He said the Directorate of Quality Assurance in the Ministry of Education has intensified checks on whether teachers whose certificates have been revoked teach in private schools.

The TSC chairman said the cases have been declining due to increased awareness created by the commission. The figures dropped from 140 in 2004 to 104 in 2005. But it rose again in 2006 to 134. It again declined to 100 in 2008 and then shot to 122, last year.

Hussein said the commission is under performance contract to ensure the disciplinary cases are concluded within three months.