A Kenyan parent has charged a school alongside three teachers to court for allegedly beating her child. She is demanding a public apology as well as compensation.
The parent, who is simply identified as CAK in court papers is also praying the court to put an end to corporal punishments in schools as well as compel the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to come up with a policy to ensure it is completely eliminated, reports Standard Media on Saturday.
CAK says in the suit against three teachers; Emily Kulola, Ann Wanjiru and Peterson Gichuki, the board of management of ACK Thika Memorial Church School and TSC that teachers were never punished for caning students.
Through her lawyer, John Chigiti, the parent argued that the right of her child to education, good health and protection against harm were infringed when he was punished, forcing her to transfer him to another school.
“On or about January 2016, the first respondent (Kulola) used excessive force and malice in viciously beating the child with her bare hands and pinched him with her fingers and nails and on the inner arm, breaking his skin and causing the minor a lot of pain, bruises bleeding and harm,” the parent claimed in her court statement.
Kenyan government banned corporal punishment in schools in 2012 and drew up a law to protect children against abuse.
However, punishment of students through such measures as kneeling down, forced manual work, caning, slapping, pinching and pulling of ears is still common.
