Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu has fired back at critics targeting teachers over the ongoing wave of school unrest, insisting that parents and politicians bear the greater share of blame.
Speaking during a school function in Keiyo South, Oyuu said many parents are detached from their children’s education, with some failing to attend parent-teacher meetings and remaining unaware of their learners’ academic progress.
Oyuu argued that this detachment amounts to an abdication of parental duty, leaving teachers to shoulder responsibilities that extend far beyond the classroom.
The KNUT boss also turned his attention to the political class, accusing leaders of fostering a toxic national environment that is increasingly seeping into schools and negatively influencing learners.
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While defending teachers, Oyuu simultaneously lauded the union’s cooperative relationship with the government, citing the recent recruitment of 100,000 teachers as a historic achievement he credited to that partnership.
The unionist has previously pushed back against what he described as an unfair targeting of teachers whenever school crises erupt. “You see, we are the first to be blamed when incidents like that of Utumishi Girls’ occur,” he said during a separate address in Wote, Makueni County.
On the question of damages caused during unrest, Oyuu has also drawn a clear line between accountability and collective punishment. “Those who destroyed must pay back what they damaged, that’s the only way to go about it. It’s unfortunate that some schools are overcharging parents. We call upon schools to be fair and the charges should be rational and justifiable,” he said in an earlier interview.
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He added that schools should conduct proper investigations before billing parents. “We have cases where CCTV footage can show clearly who participated in the destruction. Let those found guilty pay, not every parent,” Oyuu said.
The recent wave of unrest has forced the closure of multiple senior schools across the country. The crisis peaked with the dormitory fire at Utumishi Girls Senior School in Gilgil, which killed 16 students and left over 70 others injured.
Despite the scale of the disruptions, the Ministry of Education has ruled out an early school closure or changes to the academic calendar, with the second-term midterm break confirmed to proceed as scheduled.
By Benedict Aoya
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