Let students observe the Sabbath on Saturdays, says Matiang'i

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has waded into the issue of Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) students forced to attend classes on Saturday against their religious beliefs.

Dr Matiang’i said school managements should not force students to attend tuition outside the official teaching hours particularly students whose faith requires them to observe Sabbath days.

“Some schools have punished students who subscribe to the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) for refusing to attend tuition on Saturday,” lamented the Cabinet Secretary who is also an Adventist.

In a landmark a case in 2012, High Court judge Isaac Lenaola ruled that no rights of Seventh Adventists students and parents at Alliance High School were being violated in being asked to attend classes and school meetings on Saturday.

He added that the programmes that were being run by the Ministry of Education in public schools were not discriminatory as they were applicable to all students from diverse religious beliefs.

“I have also found that the extent of interference in the enjoyment of the Adventist rights and freedoms is minimized by the reasonable accommodation extended to the SDA students by the schools and I have seen no evidence that other schools have declined to do so,” said Justice Lenaola in his ruling.

He added that to exempt the Adventist students from the school's programmes would mean to grant them extra accommodation which would in return be cumbersome and chaotic to the school and other public schools.

This is after the Seventh Day Adventist Church (EAST AFRICA) sued the education ministry and the Attorney General alleging violation of the right to freedom of religion as guaranteed under Article 32 of the Constitution.