A week after we highlighted the grievances of a concerned parent at Engineer Peter Owidi Nyahera Girls, located in Kowidi Location within Homa Bay County, a frustrated staff member has now come forward to confirm a list of evils by the current administration.
Writing to us on Friday 27th May, a male teacher at the boarding secondary school expressed strong disapproval of the current rogue Principal that is reportedly running the place with an iron fist.
Under the shield of anonymity, he proceeded to divulge how the increasingly toxic working environment has adversely affected all quarters of the learning institution where staff and student motivation is extremely low.
This has been evident in the dwindling performance of the school despite parents forking out unjustified exorbitant amounts in the name of school fees.
The school also lacks basic teaching and learning aid which leaves the same oppressed teachers straining to buy their own.
The principal tenders everything from uniforms to grains.
Extracurricular activities like clubs, games, drama and music are nonexistent at Nyahera Girls. "Hi, Nyakundi. Please, hide my ID. Thanks for highlighting the rotten system at Nyahera Girls Secondary School. I am a teacher there and all you wrote is true, plus much more. That mama is the worst dictator we have ever seen. So mean even in resources that are meant for the students. Students bring ream papers every term, but she takes almost all to her starting school in Siaya County. Almost all the time there are no foolscaps but sometimes a few low-quality papers. There are no exercise books, even for teachers to write notes. Students buy books from Form 1 to 4 and no one can question them. The principal doesn't employ female teachers and the male teachers she employs are sometimes caught in mixups with girls and nothing is done about it. A student tried to complain last year to the police exposing some teachers, but they locked the girl up in a room the whole day without food and escorted her home not to mingle with other students just to come to sit for the KCSE exam. The principal supplies grains and if they don't finish the term as she expected, the store worker has to answer why. The girls are served small portions of food and if you happen to miss, nothing is done as they can't cook twice. Instead, you are blamed for being late for the meal and they have to go hungry. Parents who are dissatisfied with the school cannot be given transfers as that is seen as losing serious cash for the school. The staff is so divided into two. Those who have been brought by the principal and are her spies these benefit from some random cash tokens ranging from Sh1k to several thousand. Those who are not the principal spies benefit from nothing. The division is even seen in how they talk and associate with a lot of suspicions. To an extent, people don't talk at all, for anything small said will be used against you in the principal's office and you will be in real trouble. Indiscipline is high among students with many reporting days after opening, even though they were released on opening by their parents and nobody cares, as our suggestions on such being forced report to parents have always landed on deaf ears. It is true the students call the school boring as it's only teachers forced to work from Monday to Sunday with no co-curricular activities but only classwork. Teaching and learning material is so inadequate as you previously reported. The few whiteboard markers that are shared have to be refilled by the storeman, Imagine what happens to teachers who completely lack and the ones whose ink gets finished as the lesson is ongoing? Many times the storeman is not in his office. When you request chalks, they give you two pieces in the name of teachers wasting chalks. The storeman decides who he gives and who he terms wasteful. Teachers have no voice even in staff meetings. She dominates everything and then walks away, saying the meeting has ended. She literally took the teachers' television set from the staffroom and said teachers should watch TVs at their home and not at school. Even on public holidays you have to be in school and can't even watch TV to know what is happening in the country. You can't even be seen making a phone call in school without being harassed. Teachers are even harassed about the amount of food to serve, and she decides who qualifies to eat. Teachers on practice many a time are not allowed in the school despite the school being along the highway and desired by many on grounds of they will need more food and will be a waste to the students. Even teachers who are recognized by the commission as being seriously sick are harassed all the time and threatened with transfer and being denied food. In this school, the WiFi is only meant for the principal, the bursar and the secretary. As teachers are too irresponsible to access WiFi to retrieve teaching and learning material like past papers, books etc. No school from around wants even to have even a marking exercise in our school because they understand our school well. When students or teachers attend a forced outing, they are not given any food or fare. No lunch for students or any allowance for teachers. The school bus will carry there them and come to eat late lunch come to supper at school at around 4 pm or 5 pm depending on the time they will be back. We are suffering and we have no one to cry to. Many lose jobs as you said without even a notice. Teachers live in fear not wanting to collide with the dictator for hell will break loose for you even in class as you teach or even at the assembly. We have been under different principals before here and elsewhere, but Nyakundi is a depression centre for teachers. Students openly confess they don't want to be teachers who their principals harass. We just don't have anywhere to hide or tell our sorrow. You just have to wake up and keep pushing, hoping you won't be the next victim to be shouted at," the source writes.