The incident at Nkubu High School, where an enraged parent reportedly assaulted a deputy principal for sending his son home over the alleged theft of a mattress, is not just an isolated act of violence. It is a chilling snapshot of the hazardous reality that increasingly defines the teaching profession in Kenya. Behind classroom walls once associated with discipline, mentorship, and moral guidance now lurks a growing threat to educators’ physical safety, professional authority, and emotional well-being. The incident forces the country to confront an uncomfortable truth: teaching, a profession built on service and sacrifice, has quietly become dangerous.
At the heart of the Nkubu incident is a profound breakdown of trust between parents and schools. Sending a learner home for alleged theft is neither novel nor extraordinary; it is part of the disciplinary framework that schools have relied on for generations to instil responsibility and accountability. Yet the parents’ violent response suggests that for some, the school is no longer a partner in raising children but an adversary to be confronted, even assaulted. When a parent feels justified in physically attacking a teacher over a disciplinary decision, it signals a society that has lost respect for educators and the rule-based systems that govern learning institutions.
Teachers today operate in a volatile environment shaped by heightened parental entitlement, social media outrage, and declining societal patience for authority figures. Many parents view disciplinary action as a personal attack rather than a corrective measure. Instead of dialogue, mediation, or established grievance procedures, anger is increasingly weaponised. The deputy principal at Nkubu High School was not attacked because the system failed to exist, but because it was deliberately ignored. Violence became the chosen language, and a teacher’s body the battleground.
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This reality is compounded by the erosion of teacher authority over the past two decades. Corporal punishment, once misused but widely understood as a disciplinary tool, was abolished without a robust cultural transition on alternative discipline. While the ban was necessary to protect children’s rights, it left teachers exposed, stripped of authority yet burdened with full responsibility for student behaviour. When discipline fails, teachers are blamed; when discipline is enforced, they are attacked. It is a lose-lose situation that has made classrooms psychologically unsafe spaces for educators.
The Nkubu incident also reveals how teachers are expected to absorb society’s anger without protection. Schools have become pressure chambers where poverty, unemployment, family breakdown, and substance abuse spill over. Teachers are now counsellors, social workers, surrogate parents, and moral police, often without training or support. When something goes wrong, they stand alone. Unlike other professionals, teachers face aggression from students, parents, and sometimes the wider community, yet are offered minimal security measures or legal backing.
What makes this situation particularly troubling is the silence that often follows such attacks. Teachers are assaulted, threatened, or humiliated, and the incidents fade into the news cycle without meaningful consequences. Perpetrators are rarely prosecuted decisively, sending a dangerous message that teachers are fair game. Without firm legal action, violence against educators becomes normalised. Fear settles in staffrooms, and discipline becomes negotiable, not because teachers are weak, but because survival instincts take over.
The psychological toll of this environment cannot be overstated. Teachers now walk into classrooms carrying anxiety, hypervigilance, and emotional exhaustion. They second-guess disciplinary decisions, avoid confronting misconduct, and retreat into mechanical teaching. Learning suffers, not because teachers lack commitment, but because fear suffocates professionalism. When a deputy principal can be beaten for performing his duty, every teacher receives the same warning: you are on your own.
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The role of the Teachers Service Commission and the Ministry of Education must therefore go beyond policy statements and circulars. Teacher safety must be treated as a labour rights issue, not an afterthought. Clear protocols for handling parental grievances, mandatory security measures in schools, legal support for assaulted teachers, and public education on respectful parent-school engagement are no longer optional. They are urgent.
Equally important is a cultural reset. Parents must be reminded that discipline is not abuse, that teachers are not enemies, and that violence is never a solution. Communities thrive when schools are respected, not terrorised. The child at the centre of the Nkubu incident learns a devastating lesson if violence goes unpunished: that force overrides dialogue, and rage replaces reason. That lesson does more damage than any disciplinary action ever could.
The Nkubu High School incident should therefore be a national wake-up call. If teachers are unsafe, education is unsafe. If educators are threatened, learning is compromised. Protecting teachers is not about privileging authority; it is about safeguarding the very foundation of society. Until Kenya decisively confronts the growing hostility faced by educators, classrooms will remain quiet not because students are learning, but because teachers are afraid.
By Ashford Kimani
Ashford teaches English and Literature in Gatundu North Sub-county and serves as Dean of Studies.
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