Parents at Ng’oron boarding primary school in Tiaty Sub-county, Baringo County, have demanded the transfer of head teacher Peter Maina and other teachers after the school posted weak KCPE results.
Local leaders and parents said they were ready to protest and shut the school next term if the teachers are not moved. Tirioko Ward MCA Sam Lokales said the Teachers Service Commission should act immediately, accusing the staff of failing the pupils.
Lokales said the school has six teachers serving 431 pupils, a ratio he said leaves one teacher handling 71 learners. He added that out of 24 candidates, only nine scored above 200 marks, while the top candidate got 283 marks.
The school’s mean score was 192. Lokales compared that with 267 in 2017 and 2016, saying the institution has never produced strong examination results since it was established in 1973.
He blamed the poor showing on teacher laxity and said parents had continued to contribute resources to improve the boarding school’s structures while feeling let down by the results.
Parents also linked the school’s struggles to the wider social challenges in the area, including female genital mutilation, cattle rustling and early marriages. Sammy Samali Sammy said many children risk being lost to those practices, while Ngoriamuket Asimakok said the head teacher should leave.
Maina defended the results and said the exams were marked competitively under Kenya National Examination Council standards. He said the pupils deserved the low marks because many could not read or write properly.
He also said he had been at the school for only five months and blamed some of the poor performance on retrogressive practices among parents and children, including FGM, early marriages and banditry.
Maina cited two teenage girls who reportedly sat the KCPE after giving birth and while breastfeeding, saying they scored 135 and 156 marks respectively. He said he was preparing a comprehensive report for the Ministry of Education by next month.
