A school principal admitted to allowing a sick school girl to cook food in his house and taking some to the school dormitory leading to his being sacked.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) fired the principal and his sacking was confirmed by the Employment and Labour Relations Court on the 27th of October 2022.
Following this, the headteacher Mr Gregory Onyango Obonyo claimed Kshs. 5.6 Million in compensation with most of it being gratuity.
However, following a court sitting held in Kisumu, it was decided that the headteacher should not be paid a single cent for failing to prove that he was entitled to gratuity. He was only told that he could be given only the certificate of service.
The principal’s last posting by TSC was at Kanga Onditi Mixed Secondary School in Migori County.
The administrator was just a year into his tenure as the school headteacher when the incident occurred leading to him losing his job.
The incident was determined through the provisions in the TSC Code of Conduct and Ethics for Teachers that was gazetted as subsidiary legislation in 2015. According to Section 22 (2) of the code, a teacher is not permitted to send learners to their personal residence for whatever reason.
In part of the judgment issued, Mr Onyango being the school head “should have led by example in ensuring compliance with the employer’s codes of conduct and ethics”.
On the evening of the 28th of January 2019, Onyango had been approached by two teachers (the boarding master and the senior teacher) who were accompanied by the schoolgirl.
The girl had said that she was sick and that she had spent the whole day in the dormitory sleeping.
“Mr Onyango stated that the school did not have a dispensary and neither did it have a resident female teacher or a matron. Further, he stated that he sent the school watchman Mr Alex Ochieng to buy painkillers for the student,” read part of the judgement.
“TSC’S Code of Conduct and Ethics expressly prohibits visits to teachers’ quarters by students for obvious reasons. That Mr Onyango had admitted to violating the code is itself sufficient, valid and justified reason for his dismissal.” Read part of the judgement.
The principal is now jobless and will serve as an example to others in the same profession to tread carefully and ensure that they do not conduct themselves inappropriately.