An unprecedented decision by the headmaster of a public school in Meru to suspend 25 form one students for being uncircumcised has raised uproar among Kenyans.
The students from Kiriani Secondary School, somewhere in Meru were suspended following pressure on the school's administration by fellow students who protested that they could not coexist with uncircumcised boys as they were a 'disgrace' to the society and cannot sleep in the same room or dormitory since they were 'unclean and toddlers.' The stance taken by the students was fully supported by rural folk living close to the school with one resident saying without batting an eye lid that bringing uncircumcised boys into a dorm of the circumcised is similar to bringing girls into such a dormitory full of boys, which can only lead to chaos.
A decision by the government to have the head teacher transferred has been met by resistance from the students who protested against the move yesterday claiming their head teacher had taken the right decision to suspend the 25 uncircumcised boys.
The education minister has also commented on the issue and has castigated the suspension saying it was wrong and should never have happened in the first place. He promised Kenyans that his ministry would take decisive action.
For starters, circumcision is mandatory for boys of age in Meru and the tradition is taken so seriously that girls are also circumcised though the brutal practise of female genital mutilation (FGM), never mind the fact that female circumcision has now been outlawed.
These practices have been left to thrive there for the simple reason that the Ameru are staunch government supporters and have been behind president Kibaki ever since his first stab at the presidency in 1992.
It is an open fact that all plum jobs in government and parastatal organizations have been divided between members of the presidents Kikuyu tribe and their loyal neighbours, the Meru's.
Parents of the suspended boys argue that their children's admission letters did not stipulate that they had to be circumcised and are surprised that their sons have not been asked to return to the school even in the wake of nationwide outrage over the issue.
Like many important issues that require urgent attention in this country, the matter will most probably be swept under the carpet and soon forgotten to the chagrin of the suspended boys and their parents who will now be compelled to undergo the ritual to gain re-admitted to the school. Or stay as they are and seek education elsewhere.
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Obviously, it's the normal students who should still be in school. The poor superstitious mutilated boys should be suspended until they figure out how to co-exist with the natural intact human body which 80% of the world enjoys.
ReplyDeleteSince they threatened to forcibly circumcise the intact boys, the headteacher certainly had grounds, if not the backbone to do what is right.