A crisis has rocked the education sector where male teachers are losing internship and permanent employment with some serving long jail terms over defilement cases.
Shockingly some of the victims are teachers holding senior administrative positions in schools while others are young teachers recently absorbed into the system with recent TSC numbers.
Recently TSC published a list of teachers it deregistered and dismissed from service for gross misconduct in October 2024 and February 2025.
All the thirty four teachers listed were male teachers where thirty of them were deregistered for carnal knowledge (CK) – defilement and flirtation with school girls.
The recent two trending cases where one teacher was shown being escorted to jail to serve a twenty five year sentence and another one dismissed by TSC for flirting with a student on Instagram paints grim picture of severe consequences facing male teachers who don’t take their career seriously.
The high school teacher was dismissed and permanently banned from the teaching profession following accusations of inappropriate behavior with a teenage student on social media.
TSC took firm action after the teacher was found to have engaged in flirtatious conversations with the student on Instagram.
The teacher’s dismissal was later challenged in court, but the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi upheld TSC’s decision.
The court ruled that the teacher’s behavior was unprofessional and violated the ethical standards expected of educators.
This case highlights the growing concern over the misuse of social media by professionals in positions of trust.
The ruling serves as a reminder to educators to uphold high moral and ethical standards and to avoid any behavior that could compromise their integrity or the safety of their students.
In Mombasa the High Court overturned the acquittal of a former primary school teacher accused of repeatedly defiling a 10-year-old pupil in 2020.
Appearing before Justice Ann Ong’injo, who was reviewing the 2023 case, Joseck Okumbe was convicted of the sexual assault charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) appealed the magistrate court’s decision of 2023, arguing that the lower court ignored overwhelming evidence.
The High Court, after reviewing the evidence, dismissed Okumbe’s defence and concluded that the accused was well known to the victim as their teacher.
“This court finds that the prosecution discharged its burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt. The trial magistrate’s finding is set aside. The respondent is convicted for the offence of defilement and sentenced to serve imprisonment for a period of 25 years,” ruled Justice Ong’injo.
Okumbe is said to have sexually assaulted the 10-year-old child on diverse dates between October 12 and 19, 2020, at the school compound in Kisauni.