17 students of Kabianga High School in Kericho County, who were recently suspended for refusing to sit for exams on Saturday, have been recalled.
The students skipped the exams on grounds that they are Seventh Day Adventists (SDAs), a religious organisation that worships on Saturday, a day popularly known as Sabbath.
Confirming that a section of the students had reported to school, Kericho County Education Director Zachary Mutwiri said the students were recalled after an amicable solution was reached with their parents.
Parents and guardians had threatened to move to court should the school’s administration have failed to revoke the suspension within seven days. They accused the school’s principal of denying the students right to worship.
The Atheists society also weighed in on the matter demanding that the students be reinstated within seven days or file a suit against the school.
Read: Kabianga High School Suspends 17 SDA Students For Skipping Exams On Saturday
“Religious freedoms must be protected. The cultural majority should be prevented from denying others freedom of worship and belief,” the society president Harrison Mumia said in a letter to the school dated January 21.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday the principal Dr Joash Oloo, accused the students of contravening the school rules.
He said the students were suspended after skipping the exams even after the school allowed them to sit for the exams before the church service.
“We instructed them to sit for their exam between 5.30am and 7.30am on Sabbath day which had not really breached their doctrine or teachings,” the principal said.
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The parents who were directed to accompany the students to school on Monday were a no show.
Through lawyer Julius Mongare, they argued that the constitution allows freedom of worship and every student must be allowed one day for worship, which must be respected.
The advocate cited a case in 2017 where the Court of Appeal ruled that it was an infringement on the right to worship when students are forced to attend classes on a sabbath.
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The Civil Appeal No 172 of 2014, was ruled by Judges Kathurima Mn’oti, William Ouko and Asike Makhandia in favour of the students. The court ruled that the students had right to worship.
“The appeal is merited and we set aside the orders by the High Court and in place order that the rights of the students were infringed,” read the ruling.
The church had initially lost the case in 2013 as the then High Court judge Isaac Lenaola dismissed it noting that allowing church’s prayers would result into chaos in schools.
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