Teacher faces sack for treating students to booze

By ERIC LUNGAI

VIHIGA, KENYA: A male teacher in Vihiga County has been interdicted and faces a possible sack after he threw a bash in which he treated female high school students to booze to mark the end of their national examinations three weeks ago.

The middle-aged teacher at Moi Girls High School Vokoli in Sabatia constituency, allegedly entertained and got close to 20 students intoxicated.

He is suspected to have smuggled the illicit brew into the school compound unknown to the authorities, and later handed it to the students during the end-of-exams-bash.

Staggered

“He teaches French and after the exam, he requested the school principal to hold a party for his students of which the principal agreed.

“He, however, decided to give the students alcoholic drinks which was detected as students staggered and felt dizzy as they staggered to the hostels,” an education director in the county said. 

Several workers from the school had earlier intimated to Crazy Monday on condition of anonymity that the teacher gave the students the alcoholic drink, famously known as ‘Saphire’, which made them start behaving strangely.

Students who recorded statements said the teacher had given them the alcohol, which they mixed with their soft drinks.

The strange behaviour of the tipsy girls got the attention of the school authorities, with the deputy principal reporting it to the principal. The principal immediately summoned the teacher and held him as a major suspect. When Crazy Monday reached the school’s principal for comment through a phone interview, she could not confirm whether the incident took place in her school.

“I cannot say that such an incident happened in this school as my students have been busy preparing for the exams. Our objective is to perform better than the previous years,” she said.

Shock

The subordinate staff in the school expressed their shock over the incident, and termed it unforgettable. They alleged that the girls could have chosen to enjoy the tipple following tough exams and having been denied such worldly pleasures for quite a long time.

“It was difficult controlling the girls on that night because they were high and extremely rowdy,” said the source.

The fate of the teacher now lies in the hands of the Teachers Service Commission as it conducts investigation into the matter.