Days after Narok County Commissioner George Natembeya’s directive for all upper primary and secondary school girls to undergo checks for pregnancy and female genital mutilation, teachers have dismissed the move saying It’s illegal and uncouth to check a girl’s private parts.
The tests are demeaning and a violation of rights, said Charles Ng’eno, the county’s secretary-general of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).
Mr Ng’eno further said the directive does not fall under teachers’ mandates so they should ignore it.
“We shall not it because it infringes on the rights of learners,” he said, adding that no learner had undergone FGM while in school as the rite of passage is popular during the December holidays.
“The directive is in bad faith. We cannot be asked to invade the privacy of our learners. We have a duty to teach and we shall do that. What the commissioner wants us to do falls within the mandate of parents and provincial administrators,” he added.
The Kuppet official welcomed Mr Natembeya’s efforts to curb cases of pregnancy, as the number for Narok is high, but noted the importance of consultations instead of a “one-man directive”.
“Parents and stakeholders agree that the issue of teenage pregnancies must be addressed but the approach by the county commissioner is totally wrong,” said Mr Ng’eno.
Regarding FGM, he said, “How shall we undo a cut that has already taken place? We need ways of stopping it before it happens.”
Members of the public took to social media with their views, following the directive that Mr Natembeya issued in November 2017, many terming it unacceptable.