Learning activities at Kipsomba primary school in Soy Sub County, Uasin Gishu County have been paralyzed after angry parents stormed the institution and ejected the headteacher Mrs. Mary Goretti Boroswa whom they accused of abandoning the school to join politics.
The parents and guardians closed the institution’s main gate before holding a peaceful demonstration outside the school, where they sang and waved placards against the head teacher.
Led by Catholic priest Fr. Thomas Kigen, Board of Management chair Mrs. Bernadette Nafula and their Parents and Teachers Association Chairperson, Mr. Joseph Simbaoni, the aggrieved parents accused the head teacher of abandoning her post early this year without any notice and venturing into politics to vie for the Uasin Gishu County woman representative seat. She, however, lost in the Jubilee party primaries held in April.
Fr. Kigen said after the school running for several months without the headteacher, the school sponsor and management presented their concern to the area Teachers Service Commission (TSC) office and Mr Simon Kosgei Kiptoo was posted to take over as the new head teacher in the month of April.
However, on May 2nd when schools re-opened for the second term Mrs. Boroswa returned after she had lost in the party primaries to reclaim her position as the school head forcing parents to stage a demonstration and flashed her out.
On Friday last week, parents and the school management were shocked when Mrs. Boroswa came back with a letter from the TSC head office reinstating her as Kipsomba primary head teacher, a move that has triggered fresh demonstrations with parents vowing to stay home with their children until the teacher is removed from the school.
“We have taken our children from the school and we will paralyze learning activity until the Ministry of Education heeds to our demand by posting a new headteacher at the school, but for now no pupil will be allowed here. If the TSC wants to reinstate Mrs. Boroswa as headteacher then let them do so elsewhere but not here at Kipsomba,” said parents who also questioned the legality of the letter presented by the embattled head teacher.
The agitated parents accused the head teacher of embezzling school funds, which they said she used to fund her campaigns, thus making it difficult for school programmes to run.
They labelled her as a ‘dictator’, going to the length of accusing her of running the school like a personal property by refusing to engage the Board of Management (BoM) on critical management issues.