By Vostine Ratemo
Parents of pupils of Saretho Primary school in Garissa County have vowed not to admit their children due to the presence of a police camp in the school weeks after schools reopened countrywide.
The parents argue that the officers harass students, teachers, and the surrounding communities and they have pledged not to admit their children until the officers are relocated.
The Special Forces officers were stationed at the school grounds three years ago after an Al-Shabaab attack that saw the killing of four of its students.
The school Board of Management (BoM) Chairman Hamdi Mahat Aden yesterday said that their pleas to have the officers moved have borne no fruit.
“Considering the fluid security situation in the area, in the event of an attack on security forces, it will expose the learners to danger by either attackers or security officials,” reads a letter by the BoM addressed to the Dadaab Sub County Director of Education.
The BoM, local politicians, education officials as well as local administrators have been engaged in talks to reopen the school, but the efforts have yielded nothing.
“It`s a fact that security officers are needed for the protection of people in the area but it`s equally wrong for them to stay within the school compound,”Abakaile MCA Hajir Dahiye said.
