The decision by Education CS Fred Matiangi to ban the holding of funeral services in schools when in session has been lauded by Gesima school heads association.
Mr Matiangi had on Saturday fired the warning to school heads against allowing funeral ceremonies to take place in their respective institution’s grounds contending that it was a distraction to learning activities.
The Kitutu Masaba based zone made the announcement on Monday at its Gesima headquarters, and vindicated school heads saying they were working under immense pressure from the surrounding community.
“On behalf of all school heads from Gesima, I want to thank the Cabinet Secretary for issuing the directive. We all know how the funerals distract learning but since most of our institutions are community based, we usually work under pressure but for now, it’s a huge relieve since it’s an order which the community ought to understand,” said chairman Charles Bosire.
His counterpart Mr Charles Getuno blamed politicians for using their powers to demand school heads to allow residents use school compounds for funerals.
“We are not implying that it’s bad for communities to be given space to conduct such functions but it has a side effect in terms of our delivery as teachers. Most of these funerals are held on Thursdays and Fridays making learning difficult. It is politicians who intervene even after majority of school heads are against his idea,” he said.
They urged the minister to gazette his directive to make it easy for the school heads to work without intimidation.
“The CS should now gazette the directive so that even politicians get to know it. As school heads, we are against distraction of learning and the community should look for alternatives. However, the fields are free on weekends for any other functions,” Bosire added.