On 20 November 2018, the Teachers Service Commission said it had deregistered 32 teachers over allegations that they engaged in sexual relations with pupils, and urged investigators to pursue the criminal side of the cases.
TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia made the remarks in Mombasa during the release of Kenya Certificate of Primary Education results. She said the teachers had been dismissed in October, degazetted and their names published, adding that the list was available on the commission’s website.
Macharia used unusually harsh language to describe the teachers and called on other State agencies to move in and prosecute them. She did not, however, give details on what happened in the alleged molestation cases or what outcomes followed.
“In October, TSC dismissed 32 teachers for engaging in sexual relations with pupils. They were degazetted and their names published,” she said.
“These are pests and we cannot allow pests in our schools. We appeal to State investigative agencies to take up the criminal aspects of this matter and prosecute them,” she added.
At the same event, Kenya National Examination Council chairman George Magoha blamed parents for teenage pregnancies, saying many had abandoned their role in guiding children. He said some pupils were getting into early sex and other social problems because parents had failed in their duties.
“You are also to blame (parents) if you allow your child, some as young as 10 years, to sneak out at night. Stop crying over teenage pregnancies because we are responsible for this,” said Magoha.
Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said nine KCPE candidates gave birth during the three-day examination that ran from 30 October to 1 November. She described teenage pregnancies in primary and secondary schools as alarming and said the problem was larger than many people had assumed.
Amina also said some parents were negligent and had exposed children to drugs, sexual exploitation and other anti-social behaviour. She said reports of that kind were coming in daily from across the country.
On examination integrity, the CS said the government had recorded only a few cases of malpractice this year and none of them succeeded in leaking or stealing the exams. She said the detected incidents were minimal, despite attempts by some people to aid cheating.
The remarks came as education officials confronted two linked concerns: abuse of learners by teachers and the wider rise in teenage pregnancies among schoolchildren.
