TSC, school administrators, colleagues and families have been urged to recognise early warning signs of distress and reject harmful gossip and stigma around personal struggles.
A teacher is trained to notice when a learner changes. A sudden drop in performance, withdrawal from friends, unusual silence or a change in behaviour can raise an alarm. But who notices when the teacher changes? The reported death of a 36-year-old teacher from Muruka Senior School in Murang’a County should make us ask that uncomfortable question. The teacher was reportedly found dead in a rented house in Kenol after his family spent several days searching for him, and police investigations into the circumstances surrounding his death are ongoing.
As the country marks Suicide Awareness Month, this tragedy should not be reduced to another headline or a brief expression of condolence. It should force the education sector and society to examine how we respond to teachers who may be struggling silently. We should also be careful not to speculate about what drove this particular teacher to his death, since a person’s final decision is rarely explained by one event, one disagreement or one rumour. Only investigations and those who were close to him can provide a fuller picture. What we can discuss, however, is the environment in which teachers live and work.
Teachers carry enormous responsibilities. They teach, supervise, counsel learners, prepare examinations, handle parents, attend meetings, manage extracurricular activities and often shoulder significant family responsibilities, yet the expectation is that they should remain composed. Psychologists caution that emotional distress does not always present itself dramatically, and a person may continue working, interacting with colleagues and even appearing cheerful while privately struggling with overwhelming circumstances. According to mental-health experts, stigma, shame and fear of judgement can discourage people from seeking help, which is why psychological support must be accessible before a situation reaches a crisis point. The lesson for schools is simple: a teacher who appears fine may not necessarily be fine.
ALSO READ:
Probe launched as Murang’a teacher found dead in rented house days after going missing
The reported circumstances surrounding the Murang’a tragedy have also brought uncomfortable attention to the destructive power of rumours. In our communities, people’s marriages, finances and private affairs can quickly become public discussion, and a rumour that begins as a whisper can, before long, become accepted as fact. Colleagues and neighbours must understand that gossip is not harmless entertainment; when somebody is already under pressure, ridicule, suspicion and public humiliation can deepen isolation. If there are genuine concerns about a colleague, the answer should be compassion and appropriate intervention, not speculation.
Colleagues are often the first people to notice changes. A teacher who suddenly withdraws, becomes unusually irritable, starts missing work, turns to excessive drinking, talks repeatedly about hopelessness or experiences a significant behaviour change may need support. Colleagues do not need to diagnose one another; they simply need to care enough to notice and encourage professional help where necessary. The staffroom should not be a courtroom where colleagues are tried through gossip; it should be a place where people can find encouragement, and where the problem is beyond what a friend can handle, the right response is referral to a trained professional.
School administrators also carry a major responsibility. Management cannot be reduced to results, discipline, attendance registers and completion of records; there must also be room for the welfare of those delivering the education. When a teacher’s behaviour changes, the first response should not always be a warning letter; sometimes the first question should be, “Is everything okay?” Guidance and counselling departments must also be strengthened so they do not become active only after a crisis has occurred, with schools needing clear referral systems, confidentiality and access to qualified professionals. Teachers should receive basic mental-health awareness training, not to turn them into counsellors, but to help them recognise warning signs and know what to do next.
The Teachers Service Commission has established employee wellness structures, an important step, but a programme is only as useful as its accessibility. Teacher wellness should be visible at county and sub-county level, so that a teacher facing a personal crisis knows where to seek confidential assistance without having to navigate an intimidating system. TSC can strengthen this by expanding wellness services, improving referral networks and creating regular awareness programmes in schools, while ensuring that seeking professional assistance is never viewed as weakness or professional failure.
The burden cannot be placed on schools and TSC alone; families also have a role. Financial difficulties should be discussed before they become overwhelming, marital problems should not automatically become community gossip, and men in particular should not be raised to believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness. Responsible borrowing, budgeting and modest living may not solve every problem, but they can prevent some pressures from becoming unmanageable.
Kenya’s approach to suicide has also been changing. In January 2025, the High Court declared unconstitutional the provision of the Penal Code that criminalised attempted suicide, a decision that reinforced the importance of viewing suicidal behaviour through the lens of dignity, health and human rights rather than punishment. Fear of punishment should never become another barrier to seeking help.
Faith communities can also contribute. Prayer is important to many people, but spiritual support should work alongside professional assistance where it is needed, and faith leaders can challenge stigma, encourage people to seek counselling and create compassionate spaces for those facing grief, financial pressure, marital difficulties or emotional exhaustion.
ALSO READ: Kibabii Teachers College student leader dies after slasher attack, suspect arrested in Uganda
We cannot bring back the teacher who has died, and neither should we pretend to know everything that was happening in his life. But we can choose what his death teaches us. TSC can take wellness services closer to teachers, administrators can learn to recognise distress, guidance and counselling departments can be strengthened, colleagues can reject gossip and cultivate genuine peer support, families can become safer places for difficult conversations, and communities can learn that a rumour is not a fact. Most importantly, society must stop assuming that the person who teaches others how to cope has no struggles of their own. As the country marks Suicide Awareness Month, the call is to move beyond posters, speeches and hashtags, to build schools where seeking help is normal, workplaces where compassion is stronger than gossip, and communities that notice the colleague who has become unusually quiet, and offer help before it is too late.
By Astiba Kebongo. jackiekebongo@gmail.com
Get more stories from our website: Education News
To write to us or offer feedback, you can reach us at: editor@educationnews.co.ke
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
