Students stranded as Good Shepherd School is closed indefinitely over staff pay dispute

Parents of pupils at Good Shepherd Montessori Academy in Nakuru East Sub-County have been left distraught after the directors closed the institution indefinitely just days before the official closing date.

According to parents, the closure was announced on Monday evening via a message sent to the school's parents-and-teachers WhatsApp group. The message included a letter lacking a school logo informing them that the school would remain closed 'until further notice'.

This has caused panic among parents of Grade 6 and 9 pupils who are preparing to take the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) exams as part of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). These exams determine learners’ placement in the next educational year.

"We received the closure notice on WhatsApp, and shortly afterwards, the administrators blocked all parents from the group, leaving us with no way to ask questions," says Farida Wanjera, a parent with children in Grade 4 and 6.

Ms Wanjera said that one of her children was due to take the KPSEA exams, but is now facing uncertainty about where and how they will take the test. "We are stranded and anxious," she says, adding that teachers had reportedly been protesting over unpaid salaries before the closure.

"Since the beginning of the year, things have been slow. There has been little learning, no homework, and frequent demands for school fees. Even students who owed as little as Sh1,000 were sent home,” she says.

Miriam Ndung’u, another parent who has children in playgroup, Grade 5 and 9, says that she is devastated by the school’s decision.

"I’ve been a parent here since 2014, but this is the worst experience. We don’t even know if our children have been registered for the national exams,” she says.

“They should have waited until the pupils had finished their exams before closing the school. The children haven’t even finished the syllabus,” she explains.

Parents also expressed concern about the lack of communication regarding their children's National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) numbers and exam registration.

Naomi Wangare, a teacher at the school, confirmed that staff had gone for months without pay.

"We have done our best to teach and care for the pupils, but we haven’t received our salaries for months. Even the end-of-term exams were not purchased or printed,” she says.

Ms Wangare added that the school, which has around 200 pupils, has been in turmoil over the past week. Some teachers were allegedly locked out after questioning management about unpaid salaries.

“Some were handed resignation letters, and when they returned, they found new padlocks on the gate,” she says.

Parents and teachers were reportedly denied access to the school compound.

When contacted for comment, the County Director of Education, Victoria Mulili, said that the matter is under investigation. 'We are following up on the issue and will provide an update once our findings are complete,' she says.

Speaking to Mtaa Wangu over the phone, the school’s director, Francis Mwangi, says that the temporary closure of the school was prompted by unrest among the teaching staff, which had put pupils’ safety at risk.

“Some teachers downed tools over delayed salaries, disrupting learning. Due to their neglect of duty, I decided to terminate their contracts. When they tried to interfere with school operations, the management had to act in the children's best interests,” Mwangi explains, adding that he had made arrangements with the education department to ensure that registered candidates could sit their exams as scheduled.

"The closure is purely a temporary safety measure. I made sure that all pupils were dropped home safely after some teachers started causing a commotion and making threats. I have already arranged an exam centre so that no child misses their exams while we resolve the issue of incitement and restore order,” he says.