Magoha orders TSC to discipline teacher over KCPE candidate's missed test

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has directed the Teachers Service Commission to expeditiously take disciplinary action on a primary school deputy head teacher in Kitui County who caused a Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidate to miss his English Composition test.

In an apparent reference to the incident which occurred at Kaunguni Primary School in Waita Zone in Mwingi Central, Prof Magoha said it is unfortunate that the child was taken out of the examination room by the teacher and sent home.

“I want to inform the nation that there was a very unfortunate incident in Kitui where a child was taken out of the examination room and sent home. We hope that the teacher who had the audacity to cause this child to miss English Composition paper will be severely disciplined by the Teachers Service Commission," Magoha said.

"We as the Ministry of Education shall ensure justice is done for that child. That child shall be graded without that Composition because it was not the child’s fault," the CS said on Thursday in Kisumu.

"You recall that His Excellency the President has directed that any child who presents himself or herself to the examination centre, must be allowed to take the examination. All other things that can be discussed later," he said.

School feeding programme

The Nation has reliably learnt that the candidate, who lives with his aging grandmother, was sent home because he had an outstanding balance of Sh400 for the school feeding programme.

The money was meant to prepare githeri for the candidates during the three days of the national examinations.

The pupil was sent home, 7km away, by a female deputy head teacher to collect the money during the lunch break. At the time, the pupil had written the Mathematics and English language papers.

Three other candidates suffered that same fate but were lucky to return in time for the English Composition paper.

But the pupil in question only returned after the exam had ended. The school’s head teacher, Paul Mulonzya, termed the teacher’s action as a blunder.