Bullying in Kenya Schools...This is a wake up call to all.

[Dr. Job]

Alliance High bullying horror gives students mental scars

A Form One student at Alliance High School displays blood stained clothes. He said the garments were soaked in his blood when he was beaten by prefects at the school. PHOTO DUN SIKOYO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• More than 10 students have reported being beaten up with sticks and electricity cables, slapped and forced to lie on the graves of the school’s founders.
• A least one of the students has been reduced to walking on crutches as a result of a severe beating.
• The bullying is carried out during “action nights” and “induction sessions” masterminded by prefects in the full knowledge of the administration

Chilling details of bullying and torture meted out on Form One students by their seniors at Alliance High School, arguably Kenya’s best, can be revealed on Thursday.

More than 10 students have reported being beaten up with sticks and electricity cables, slapped and forced to lie on the graves of the school’s founders for hours on end at night and to ‘swim’ on grass. A least one of the students has been reduced to walking on crutches as a result of a severe beating.

The horrifying incidents were exposed in a report by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Ministry of Education officers who carried out investigations last month.

The bullying is carried out during “action nights” and “induction sessions” masterminded by prefects in the full knowledge of the administration.

The premier school has a student population of 1,600 and is ever a top performer in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations. It boasts well-known and successful alumni — including top doctors, engineers, politicians and parastatal chiefs.

The bloodied clothes of a Form One student at Alliance High School who says he was beaten by prefects.



The Kiambu County-based school’s ‘old boys’ include Senators Amos Wako, Anyang’ Nyong’o, Kiraitu Murungi, James Orengo and Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro, as well as veteran newspaper editor Philip Ochieng. Others are former Chief Justice Evan Gicheru and former Attorney-General Charles Njonjo.

Last year, the school posted 14 As, a big drop from 207 in 2015.

SERIOUSLY INJURED

On Tuesday, police in Kiambu questioned Mr David Kariuki, the then-principal, and one of his deputies, a security officer, a nurse and three other school staffers over the torture reports.

The seriously injured Form One student, whose name we cannot reveal for legal reasons, is said to have been taken to Kikuyu PCEA Mission Hospital near the school bleeding profusely after a particularly savage beating. He was pulled out of the dormitory by prefects at 11.10pm and frogmarched to a classroom, where he was beaten up.

The student who was beaten by prefects at Alliance High School shows the injuries he sustained.



Despite the gravity of the incident, however, the school leadership covered it up and decided not to inform the board of governors as is the standard procedure. It was not until the half-term break this week that the student reported the matter to police, prompting the interrogation on the same day Mr Kariuki left the school for good.

The nurse was picked up for questioning as he was the one who took the boy to hospital while the security officer was on duty during the incident.

READ: Alliance High head retires amid reports of bullying

Mr Kariuki’s application for early retirement, having attained the age of 50, was accepted by the TSC, prompting him to leave the institution in a cloud of fury from the alumni and the school board, which has called for thorough investigations into the claims.

“Due to inadequate cutlery in the dining hall and the short time allocated for meals, Form One students are used to missing meals as the older boys take all the available cutlery to help themselves to all the food,” says the report, saying the period allowed for meals is only five minutes.

In what, perhaps, best conveys the magnitude of the problem at Kenya’s academic and sports giant, a senior Education ministry officer pulled out his son from the school just last month. A well-informed source told the Nation that when the officer was informed about the torture by his son, he immediately ordered the investigations.

A Form One student at Alliance High School who was beaten and injured by prefects displays a bloodied pair of trousers.



WAKE UP AT NIGHT

During the “induction”, Form One students are forced to wake up at night and clean bathrooms and classrooms as the rest of the students slept. The slow ones are beaten up by the prefects.

The report says the school administration actually admitted to the fact that there was bullying, saying it was part of the school induction programme.

“They step on our backs, tell us to swim on grass and then lie on graves in the school graveyard,” the report quotes one of the Form Ones as saying. “On one night, I remember, I lay on the grave of one of the most famous principals called Carrey Francis Edward.

“We are also denied supper on Saturdays and some of us go without Sunday breakfast.”

Another student spoke of the “induction” tradition, which he said “left me with wounds all over my body while some of my classmates suffered broken hands and legs”. He said senior prefects, together with the rest of the school, kicked out the Form Ones from the dining hall during meals.

The bloodied clothes of a Form One student at Alliance High School who was beaten by prefects. More than 10 students have reported being beaten with sticks and electric cables.



Another Form One student narrated how he was woken up at 4am on a Sunday with his classmates and spent the rest of the night at the graveyard.

“Some of the house captains told us they were our gods and that we should worship them,” he said. “They told us to do impossible things — like swimming on grass or hugging light bulbs.”

Another student said he and his classmates were chased around the school at night by prefects armed with whips and belts.

“Some of us were injured,” he said. “Then early the next morning we were woken up at 3am and forced to lie on the graves.”

The boy said he feared the older boys were initiating them into a cult.

PREFECTS UNPOPULAR
The prefects were very unpopular because they were never elected by the student body as is the practice in most schools but just hand-picked by the administration, said the student. He said the school had regular days for “punishment parades and action nights” in which the new students would be beaten up until midnight.

In another account, a student tells of “action nights”, where “I would see with my own eyes every Friday boys being beaten by the so-called makarau (sheng for the police) and house captains.”

He added: “I have even spent countless nights cleaning toilets while suffering beatings from prefects using belts and hockey sticks. Truly, if people could know what goes on at night in this school, they would be shocked.”

Another student said: “I have fallen victim not once but many times. At midnight, students are beaten up with belts during the punishment parade until they shed tears.”

Yet another one said he was woken up at 4am and ordered to sit on a toilet basin and also draw a car and get inside the drawing. He added that when they reported to the teacher, all the prefects got was “a mere verbal warning”. Sometimes they were forced to sing the national and school anthems in a reggae tune, he recalled.

The investigators conducted face-to-face interviews with students, guidance and counselling staff, the boarding master and the principal and his deputies. Students also filled questionnaires.

The team also combed through official documents — including board of management minutes, fees structures and discipline records.

Torture horror that cost Alliance High principal his job

 

[Dr. Job]

Alliance School demotes 10 prefects, suspends six students after horrifying bullying report

Mar. 04, 2017, 12:00 pm
By NANCY AGUTU@NANCYAGUTU

Former Alliance Boys High School Principal David Kariuki join students in singing a celebration anthem after the school recorded a new target of 200 A's in the 2015 KCSE results.

Alliance High School board has suspended six students found guilty of assaulting form ones following a horrifying report that detailed mistreatment at the school.

A report by TSC cited forms of harassment including being forced to lie on graveyards, swimming on grass, beatings and being denied meals.

David Kariuki quit his position as principal following the reports that indicated that scores of students were left injured.

Six students have been remanded after they denied the charges at a Kikuyu court on Friday.

"The board would like to apologise profusely to the students and the parents that these unacceptable incidents took place," chairman Sam Ncheeri said in a statement on Saturday.

Ncheeri said they had taken measures to ensure the incidents are never repeated at the school.

"An on-going further investigation against the Deputy Principal (Administration) has commenced, the demotion of 10 prefects including the School Captain," he said.

He said the board has also instituted of counseling sessions for traumatised students and remaining prefects.

Ncheeri said they have put in place a new acting principal who has already assumed office.

"He is now firmly in-charge of the school administration under the guidance of the BOM while a substantive replacement is sought."


The Chairman further said they have had engagements with students and teachers to ensure that learning continued in a conducive environment.

Noting that the offences were grievous, Ncheeri said the board wiill continue to engage the TSC on other aspects of the report.

"We are sincerely committed to address the issues raised by the TSC report on a priority basis in our quest to secure the quality of education provided at the AHS," he said.

Ncheeri said they will update all stakeholders at the school grounds on Sunday following the annual Founders' Service.

The mistreatment at the school is said to have been by prefects and senior students and had reportedly been going on for long.

Parents raised the alarm with the Education ministry early this year leading to an investigation.

The school is a top performer in KCSE examinations. Fourteen As were recorded last year, and 207 in 2015.

Following the investigation, Education CS Fred Matiang'i said his ministry and other stakeholders were carrying out investigations and that those who took part will be punished.

He said he was displeased that students undergo torture by schoolmates in places where they are to be protected.

Alliance School demotes 10 prefects, suspends six students after horrifying bullying report

 

[Dr. Job]

Matiang'i talks tough against bullying after Alliance High report

 

[Dr. Job]

 

[Dr. Job]

Harrowing tales of Alliance Boys' bullying revealed

The students narrated how “house committees” and prefects took them through traumatising rituals in what they called “induction” or “action” nights.PHOTO:COURTESY

Harrowing tales of the harassment and bullying of Alliance High School students can now be revealed.
Blow-by-blow accounts of the victims of the bullying by prefects and senior students, as contained in an audit report, paint the picture of a collapsed system where students live in fear even as pressure mounts on them to produce good examination results.

The details, contained in a Ministry of Education report, prompted the school’s principal, Mr David Kariuki, to take early retirement last week.

Extracts of the testimonies contained in the report reveal how the victims were forced to lie on graves, crawl on wet grass, and hug light bulbs as part of an initiation rite. Others claimed they were threatened with machetes.
The students narrated how “house committees” and prefects took them through traumatising rituals in what they called “induction” or “action” nights.

“During action nights, you are woken up by house committees and prefects and taken to the ironing bay, where you are subjected to all kinds of torture, including caning,” said one student.

Another one is quoted as saying: “We spent countless nights scrubbing toilets with belts flying on our backs.”
“Some of them (prefects) said they were our gods and we should worship them. We were also asked to crawl on grass and hug fluorescent light bulbs,” said one of the students.

Another student said: “We were chased around the school with whips and belts by the prefects. Some of us were injured. Early in the morning we were woken up at 3am to lie on graves.”

The victims described how rogue prefects forced them to worship “school ancestors” buried in the graves they were forced to lie on. “We were forced to pray to some of them (deceased), they (prefects) told us to say: ‘for what we are about to receive we thank you the bupungu and chengoko, amen’,” narrated one victim.

The victims described how they were forced to go to bed late. The report also says students complained that they were not given an opportunity to elect their prefects.

Reports indicate that before taking early retirement, the Alliance Boys principal recorded a statement with the police regarding the injuries sustained by some of the victims.

Yesterday, the Teachers Service Commission clarified that Kariuki did not resign, as claimed by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), but applied to retire after serving for more than 29 years and in line with the provisions of the law.

However, Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion inssted that Kariuki’s departure was “malicious”. “There has been an orchestrated vendetta from Jogoo House against Kariuki,” he said.

Harrowing tales of Alliance Boys' bullying revealed

 

[Dr. Job]

Trouble in paradise: Agony of parents whose sons went through hell

Alliance Boys high school. (Photo: Jenipher Wachie/Standard)

Parents at one of the oldest citadel of education in the country, Alliance High School, were outraged yesterday as they returned their children to school in the wake of chilling bullying reports.

There was tension at the institution, which has for decades symbolised discipline and academic excellence as the board of management met teachers in a closed-door meeting to unravel the bizarre reports of bullying attributed to some prefects, which was likened to torture.

This was happening at a time Education CS Fred Matiang'i ordered a nationwide probe into bullying after the Alliance shocker. He warned principals that they will be held personally responsible for bullying cases in their schools. At Alliance, the board met the teaching staff and later held a joint session with students and teachers, just a day after a Ministry of Education report exposed harrowing tales of bullying.

At the end of the two meetings, at least 10 prefects and captains who oversaw the acts were demoted and vetting for the remaining students launched. The fate of teachers in charge of discipline remains unknown. By last evening, police officers were in the school investigating the matter. Parents who spoke to The Standard yesterday expressed shock at the revelations, with some saying they would transfer their children to other institutions. Sources indicated the board read the riot act to teachers and vowed to restore the school's lost dignity.

Questions were raised on what made the former school principal David Kariuki leave. Mr Kariuki had said he was leaving to pursue other interests but the timing casts doubt on what could have triggered his premature exit. He has remained silent and unavailable to the media.

The parents' collective anger and disbelief was captured in the words of one father, Joseph Ogutu, who had thin beads of sweat as he tried to come to terms with what happened to his son only eight weeks into high school.

"When the boy came back home for the half-term break, he had a torn sweater. I asked him what had happened and he told me the 'cops' pulled him. Another boy who was at home with us laughed and said those are prefects," he said.
But the magnitude of the 'pulling' did not hit Dr Ogutu until yesterday.

"When we heard in the news about bullying, I asked him to tell me what happened. And he told me, 'Dad I was beaten and asked to lie on the graves at 4am'," he said.

The acting dean of School of Business at Scott University was shocked by what his son, who scored 415 marks in last year's KCPE exam, had gone through.

"I am very infuriated. When I came today I wanted to get hold of somebody because that is cultic. If your own child were forced to lie on a grave, what would you do? It is spiritually and emotionally assaulting them," he said.
"I am a very disappointed parent. But as you can see, I have no one to talk to for explanation. It is sad I want to leave my boy here with many questions deep in my heart."

The story was corroborated by a guard who told The Standard: "Enyewe hawa vijana wamekuwa so powerful hadi wanachapa fellow students. Mimi nilisema kama ni kijana yangu haki nitachapa hao pia (The prefects are so powerful that that they even cane fellow students and I once told myself that if they caned my child I would also beat them up)"

He said: "I think with these revelations parents can now resolve these issues."

Interviews with students echoed the guard's sentiments.

"When we came here we were so excited that we had joined a big school, the best in the country but many of us were so disappointed but we cannot tell our parents," said a Form One student.
He said the bullying had tormented many students.

"One of my classmates said last week that he would not come back to school. I am waiting to see if he will come back today," he said.

Another parent who declined to be named said her Form One son came with a blood-stained shirt.

"I never thought deeply about it because I know he is obedient. I have come to know that I am a poor parent who cannot realise imminent death of my child," she said.

The Standard came face-to-face with the reality of the shocking tales just a day after a Ministry of Education's quality assurance report unearthed the rot in students' leadership.

According to the report, one of the students narrated how 'house committees' and prefects subjected them to traumatic experiences during what the report terms 'induction nights and action nights'.

"During action nights you are woken up by house committees and prefects and taken into the ironing bay where you are given all kinds of torture, including strokes," said a student.

"I have seen with my own eyes boys being beaten by 'makarao' and house committees. We spent countless nights scrubbing toilets with belts flying on my back. (If) these people could know what goes on at night in this school they could wonder," another student said.

And another said: "We were chased around the school with whips and belts by the prefects. Some of us were injured. And early in the morning we were woken up at 3am to lie on the graves of the honourable deceased," reads the report.

The same students said: "We were forced to pray to some of them (deceased), they (prefects) told us to say: for what we are about to receive we thank you the 'bupungu' and 'chengoko' amen.

The school has produced senior Government officials, top politicians and chief executive officers.

Former Attorney General and current Busia Senator Amos Wako, Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wa, Kenya Bankers Association boss Habil Olaka, Pan Africa Insurance Holdings Ltd Group Chief Executive Mugo Kibati, Centum Investments managing director and chief executive officer James Mworia are some of them.

School alumni who spoke to The standard yesterday said they were so embarrassed to be associate with the school.
Mr Ichung'wa yesterday said: "At no one time did I witness or even hear of a student being bullied the entire four years I was at Alliance high school."

The lawmaker who left the school in 1991 said he was a senior prefect in charge of discipline.

"I was also the captain of The Smith House. But we had a clear method punishing students it was not through beating," he added.

Ichung'wa said prefects only punishes students for light offences.

"We would have them make laps round the field, slash grass, water flowers, or weed gardens around their dormitories," he revealed.

He said only the principal and deputy principal were allowed to punish students for bigger offences.

"They would be taken to the school farm to collect eggs, clean the pig sty or such kinds of things. But if it was a major offence, they would be caned by the principal or suspended," he said.

Another former student, Habil Olaka, said between 1979 and 1984 there was good coordination between students and prefects.

"What we are hearing is unfamiliar to us. During our time there were two types of punishment. (One was) the collective one where students were taken for manual work such as cleaning. But this only happened during weekends," he added.
He said the second type of punishment was called "gating" where students would be asked to report to a specific administrator during specific intervals.

"If you were to see teacher A by 11am, you would be asked to see teacher B at exactly 12 and so on... this was effective because it happened over the weekend and it barred you from engaging in other things that you would have otherwise wished to do," he said. Ichung'wa and Olaka yesterday said the mess at Alliance must be cleaned.

"The ministry must ensure that whatever happens at the school the old boys have a say on who becomes the principal because there is a tradition that new people brought in never understand," he said.

"Evening preps were conducted between 6.50pm and 8.45pm. Only Form Fours were allowed to leave at 9.15pm. By 9.45pm it was all quiet," said Ichungwa.

Trouble in paradise: Agony of parents whose sons went through hell

 

[Dr. Job]

So it’s not all glitz at Alliance High?

 

[Dr. Job]

A file photo of former Alliance High School principal David Kariuki

 

[Dr. Job]

Matiang'i talks tough against bullying after Alliance High report

 

[leiya]

Bullying is an order of the day in most Kenyan secondary schools. In most cases student's presidents are more feared than academic teachers. It reaches a point u tremble when called by a prefect even if u have done nothing.

My young bro who was at Kanga high narrated to me the same story.
Little did I know that the situation is even worse at the national schools. To me I really appreciated the dictatorship way of getting the prefects as it was a better means of getting those people who can stand firmly for the school's principles. For the matter of discipline and good academic performance, strict leaders have contributed much.

I extend my sincere sympathies to all the victims of this torture. May they get back to normal fast.

 

[Quickly]

Bullying is an order of the day in most Kenyan secondary schools. In most cases student's presidents are more feared than academic teachers. It reaches a point u tremble when called by a prefect even if u have done nothing.

My young bro who was at Kanga high narrated to me the same story.
Little did I know that the situation is even worse at the national schools. To me I really appreciated the dictatorship way of getting the prefects as it was a better means of getting those people who can stand firmly for the school's principles. For the matter of discipline and good academic performance, strict leaders have contributed much.

I extend my sincere sympathies to all the victims of this torture. May they get back to normal fast.

Are you trying to normalise bullying? I think you are. Trying to justify an untenable way of life that you overtly and no doubt covertly pass on to your kids,and then you begin to wonder what went wrong with the nation. Please, don't extend sympathies to the victims. Condemn and demand justice for them, and demand that the perpetrators get their dues.
Mimi ni mkenya ambaye amekasirishwa sana na hii upuzi ya sijui induction au kwa tafsiri mbadala wanaita hardening kwa mashule ya upili. As a former Maseno school pupil i can indeed confirm that bullying was rampant, and during my stay i witnessed a change in narrative regarding how to treat new students championed by the administration of the late WJ Amadi The essence of it all was to treat the new student as your mentee, if you can permit me to use this term, and not as your floormat. I meet some of my seniors today and treat them with the same respect, in spite and despite anything esp regarding seniority in the workplace.
I also can't understand your meaning of discipline, if you equate it with sanitised torture masquerading as school discipline.
Jihoji.

 

[Quickly]

Bullying is an order of the day in most Kenyan secondary schools. In most cases student's presidents are more feared than academic teachers. It reaches a point u tremble when called by a prefect even if u have done nothing.

My young bro who was at Kanga high narrated to me the same story.
Little did I know that the situation is even worse at the national schools. To me I really appreciated the dictatorship way of getting the prefects as it was a better means of getting those people who can stand firmly for the school's principles. For the matter of discipline and good academic performance, strict leaders have contributed much.

I extend my sincere sympathies to all the victims of this torture. May they get back to normal fast.

Are you trying to normalise bullying? I think you are. Trying to justify an untenable way of life that you overtly and no doubt covertly pass on to your kids,and then you begin to wonder what went wrong with the nation. Please, don't extend sympathies to the victims. Condemn and demand justice for them, and demand that the perpetrators get their dues.
Mimi ni mkenya ambaye amekasirishwa sana na hii upuzi ya sijui induction au kwa tafsiri mbadala wanaita hardening kwa mashule ya upili. As a former Maseno school pupil i can indeed confirm that bullying was rampant, and during my stay i witnessed a change in narrative regarding how to treat new students championed by the administration of the late WJ Amadi The essence of it all was to treat the new student as your mentee, if you can permit me to use this term, and not as your floormat. I meet some of my seniors today and treat them with the same respect, in spite and despite anything esp regarding seniority in the workplace.
I also can't understand your meaning of discipline, if you equate it with sanitised torture masquerading as school discipline.
Jihoji.