Male teachers no longer at ease in girls schools

What you need to know:

  • TSC had earlier this month issued new tough guidelines on protection of students in schools in the wake of sexual harassment in schools.
  • The commission’s chief executive officer Nancy Macharia said the new guidelines are aimed at enhancing the safety and welfare of all learners.

  • Mrs Macharia warned headteachers found to be in violation of the guidelines or whose negligence led to an offence happening will be held liable.

Kenneth Mukok was bemused when he read his students’ poems submitted for an English class assignment at Rang’ala Girls’ High School in Siaya County.

A number of them wrote love poems and he could tell that some were declarations of love towards him.

That was 12 years ago when he was just beginning his career as a teacher of English, and today he is at St Mary’s Yala, a boys’ school in the same county.

He says because of his training, he knew better than to let the girls’ fantasies mislead him. He says he has always understood the value of guiding these teens.

He stayed at the girls’ school for just a year. And whenever he is discussing the topic of teacher-student relations with colleagues from other institutions, one thing always comes out.

HALF-TERM

“Most of us who are in boy schools actually sympathise with our colleagues in girl schools,” he told the Sunday Nation.

One of the reasons they commiserate with their colleagues is the ever-present risk of being disciplined on trumped-up charges.

“Once the story gets out there, it is always the teacher against the student. And the teacher is guilty until proven innocent,” he said.

“I know I can survive in a girls’ school but definitely I would rather be where I feel a little bit safe because from the onset, the teacher is perceived already as the criminal,” added Mr Mukok.

And as the spotlight shone on Moi Girls’ School, Nairobi over the rape of a Form Two girl by an unknown man in the early hours of June 3, students of Itoleka Girls’ High School in Kitui County were called to a meeting to be warned about their male teachers.

A student at the school, currently at home for the half-term break, recalls some of the instructions they were given: “There is no getting very close with the teachers, like going to consult them after supper.”

INTERDICTION

Male teachers, she said, were present at the gathering and while one cannot tell exactly how they reacted to this, some must have felt like public enemies.

It was around that time that all male teachers at Moi Girls were taking DNA tests to ascertain whether any of them may have committed the heinous act.

Such scenarios put the male teacher in a dilemma. While on the one hand the profession confers him with the duty of being a parent of a child outside home, a task most of them do with dedication, on the other hand he is supposed to measure his every move so that it does not cross the lines and become a case for interdiction.

Ms Patience Maina, a former student at Asumbi Girls’ High School in Homa Bay county who is now a trained teacher from Moi University awaiting posting, explained the entangled web a male teacher finds himself in.

Male teachers, she opined, are better off teaching at boy schools.

TEMPTATION

“If I were male I would go to teach in any boy school irrespective of the location. Teaching in a girls’ school is a risky affair for the male teacher,” she said.

A school, she observed, comprises of learners from all manner of backgrounds, and the fact that they are adolescents does not help matters.

“You will not be surprised to find cases of a student making advances at the teacher even during lessons, through her sitting posture and other body language that may appeal sexually. Male teachers are human. It takes a very balanced heart to resist some sexual moves by the student,” she said. The Itoleka Girls student said some of the flirting tactics include wearing clothes at games time without undergarments or pretending to go for consultation.

“Sometimes they tempt male teachers until the [female] principal complains,” she said.

Teachers at Muslim institutions have some respite, according to Mr Michael Onyango, a 51-year-old teacher at Arya Samaj School in Nairobi.

“Most of them [students] are Muslims and they dress modestly. That chance of flirting or wearing immodestly is not there,” he said.

SOCIALISING

Ms Maina told school heads to always be careful when handling cases of girls who accuse their teachers of making sexual advances as some are wont to frame their tutors.

“Matters are worse when the administration is in support of the students without doing any investigations. A teacher is easily suspended or even fired whenever such allegations are made,” she said.

In her opinion, the societal barriers hamper learning. “A male teacher cannot socialise freely with his student and this will interfere with the results. The bond with your students for better results will never be attained. Therefore, the female teacher could have better chances of achieving her set goals,” she said.

Speaking of socialising, male teachers at various public secondary schools spoke to the Sunday Nation in confidence about how they have been relating to female learners.

A teacher in a girls school in Machakos County said teachers who are most “at risk” of starting sexual relations with the students are those engaged in co-curricular activities such as sports and drama.

“Due to closeness with their teachers, the idea of a relationship starts to develop,” said the teacher.

RELATIONS

He went on: “During those activities, you must connect with the students and some feelings are likely to develop. Many a time, girls mark their territory and want to prove a point to their colleagues. Some teachers are normally trapped without their knowledge.”

Another teacher in Nairobi said closeness to students makes them confide to you some information or problems, believing that some help will come out of the disclosure.

“As a teacher, you must be principled enough, else you will lose your job. Teachers should always create boundaries,” he said.

From our interviews, it emerged most of the sexual relations with students occur during mid-term breaks or during school holidays.

“A teacher can have several girls,” said one teacher.

COUNSELLING

Mr Onyango, the Arya Samaj teacher, explained why young teachers are the most susceptible.

“The girls might try to flirt around because they look at you as a potential boyfriend. So, you find teacher trainees normally have a rough time dealing with the girls,” he said.

The teachers said some of the tricks the girls use include writing love letters which they place in exercise books while delivering their assignments.

“Some girls perfume their books for you in order to pass a message,” added another teacher.

Interestingly, the teachers hardly report such advances for fear of being victimised and losing their jobs.

“I won’t report the girl because if I do, it will make her punished or expelled. Other teachers report to guiding and counselling teachers who play a critical role in counselling them,” said one teacher.

Developmental psychologist Mbutu Kariuki, reacting to the fact that some male teachers would want to be at only boy schools, said tutors should always take the bull by its horns.

SEXUALITY

“Between a student who is rightfully attempting to express his or her sexuality in one way or the other and the teacher who is running away for allegedly being an object (victim) of this expression, who is weaker? Do people move or burn houses because a rat was found looking for food?” posed Mr Kariuki.

“There is nothing inherently evil in being sexual. It is a positive part of who we are. Our sexuality is developing and evolving from birth. It is not a sin,” he added.

The only thing teachers need to do, he said, is guide students to understand and express their sexuality in a healthy manner.

“It must be done well, scientifically. No room for taboos and religious myths. We have to help them grow well. There must be channels to address a student who writes a love letter (which is in itself courageous, romantic, artistic) to a teacher without condemning or embarrassing him or her,” said the psychologist.

GUIDELINES

He added: “The problem is that most adults already are victims of poor guidance and bad education on sexuality.”

There have been reports that some male teachers are seeking transfers from girl schools to boy schools, but Mr Kahi Indimuli, the chairman of the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (Kessha), said he had not received any complaints.

“We are not aware because they have not shared with us what they are going through,” Mr Indimuli told the Sunday Nation.

The Teachers Service Commission also said it was unaware of such requests.

TSC had earlier this month issued new tough guidelines on protection of students in schools in the wake of sexual harassment allegations at Moi Girls School Nairobi and Maasai Girls in Narok.

The commission’s chief executive officer Nancy Macharia said the new guidelines are aimed at enhancing the safety and welfare of all learners.

NEGLIGENCE

In a circular dated June 13, TSC says non-trained teachers who are often hired to coordinate activities like drama will not be allowed in schools any more.

“All principals and headteachers shall ensure for any co-curricular activity-games and sports … within or outside the school, pupils and students are accompanied by at least one registered teacher of the same sex,” said Mrs Macharia.

The directive also proscribed persons who have not been trained as teachers and subsequently registered with TSC from teaching in schools.

Mrs Macharia warned headteachers found to be in violation of the guidelines or whose negligence led to an offence happening will be held liable.

 Also, there is a new directive banning closed-door meetings between teachers and learners of the opposite sex. New rules also say learners cannot be sent home during school time if parents have not been informed.