Keveye High School students on the rampage over insecurity
Keveye Girls High School students camp in the playground with police officers on guard on October 31, 2021.
Students of Keveye Girls High School in Vihiga County went on strike on Sunday. The learners were protesting over alleged insecurity and high handedness by the school administration.
Vihiga County Commissioner Ochilo Oyugi said the unrest, which started at 4am, saw the rowdy students hurl stones before the police arrived at the institution by 7am. Mr Oyugi said no destruction of property was recorded during the incident.
The angry students then left their dormitories and converged at the school playground as others stood outside their classes.
The girls claimed the school management had turned a blind eye to their complaints and insisted that the institution was insecure. They claimed an unidentified man had been breaking into the school at night.
The girls from Kilimanjaro dormitory began shouting in the dead of the night. They claimed they had seen a strange man.
"The students began shouting at 4am. There is no substantial destruction of school property, we are still processing the situation," said Mr Oyugi.
Vihiga County Police Commander Benjamin Ong'ombe said he dispatched his officers to the institution to restore order after being informed of the incident.
County Director of Education Hellen Nyang'au did not pick our calls when we reached her for comment.
By the time of going to press, the school's administration was yet to speak about the incident.
This is not the first time the institution is in the news for the wrong reasons.
In 2016, the school was in the news after a six-minute video emerged on social media showing teachers administering corporal punishment on students.
The government banned corporal punishment, particularly caning, in schools since 2011. Keveye Girls’ is one of the academic giants in Vihiga County.
At the time the video leaked, the school administration termed the move as malicious.
The six-minute footage showed four teachers — three men and a woman — standing in line and as they caned terrified students in the staff room.
After the four teachers were done with the students, the learners were then passed over to yet another teacher waiting at the door for more caning.
The video — whose authenticity the Nation could not verify at the time — was recorded in 2015 just before the schools closed for December holidays, but surfaced in February 2016.
