Editor's Review

  • Students at Makueni Boys High School refused to shave their beards forcing the administration to suspend them.
  • The school Principal told journalists that 258 learners were sent home for having full beards which is against the institution's rules.

Makueni Boys High School suspended 258 Form 4 students for two weeks after rioting on Friday night.

The institution has a population of more than 1,000 students and sent 258 learners home who refused to shave their beards.

According to reports, the candidates went on a rampage protesting the compulsory, monthly haircuts by the school.

School principal Raphael Katana confirmed the suspensions stating that some of the students had a full beard and head full of hair.

“We shave our students every month, all the students in other classes got their haircuts, but the Form Fours refused, as per the Ministry of Education guidelines, we sent all of them home because they became rowdy, “ Katana said.

He further stated that the school insisted on the haircuts but the students became rowdy, prompting their suspension.

This is not the first incident of unrest in Kenya's secondary schools after students reported back in January 2021.

Task forces called for streamlining of boarding schools and establishing guidance and counselling departments.

The government is in a spot for failing to fully implement task force reports that proposed solutions to end student’s unrest.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) exposed the government’s laxity to act on perennial fires that have led to the loss of property and learning time.