Nakuru County Human Rights Network Director David Kuria has condemned ‘unfair’ disciplining of students who report later than the stipulated reporting dates by teachers.
Kuria termed the act of turning the students away due to reporting late in school as inconsiderate and inconvenient to those who travel from distant places.
“We have been receiving complaints from parents whose children have been suspended for two weeks or subjected to other harsh forms of punishment on grounds of late reporting.
Some parents go through financial difficulties in raising school fees while other students travel from very far. It is therefore unfair for teachers to turn away students without solid reasons for doing so,” said Kuria.
Director Kuria who was speaking in Nakuru town on Tuesday during a Human Rights Activists’ Rally, affirmed that teachers and heads of schools should devise mechanisms to cater for all students.
Kuria asserted that effective communication between teachers and parents whose children would report late for one reason or another would help in solving bad blood that ensue between teachers and students who report a bit late.
He added that taking disciplinary action on students caught up in such cases is an infringement of their rights.
“Punishing students who turn up later than the specified dates and even sending them away to report back later with parents is an inconvenience and contravention of their rights,” added Kuria.
Kuria also said that student should not be punished without solid and fair grounds for taking such action.