The Ministry of Education in Kenya recently issued a directive admonishing school officials to protect the religious rights of students. The directive was issued on March 4, 2022. It is hoped that it will help protect the rights of the children of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have been the victims of discrimination for many years.

Since 2015, 36 children of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been expelled or suspended for refusing to participate in school-mandated religious ceremonies. In 2018, representatives from the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nairobi met with Kenyan education officials to address the mistreatment. Notably, on October 23, 2018, the representatives met with the then Cabinet Secretary for Education, Dr. Amina Mohamed.

The government’s directive candidly acknowledges that some “school administrators and managers” in Kenya “are using flimsy excuses to keep learners away from schools.” The directive specifies that “in particular, . . . some schools are violating the religious rights of learners and using religion as a factor to either deny admission or expel learners from school.”

As widely reported on by Kenyan news outlets, the directive reaffirms that “the violation of religious rights is against various national legislation, regional and international conventions, . . . in particular, the Constitution of Kenya.” Therefore, Witness children and others cannot be asked “to act or engage in an act that is contrary to his/her religion.” It concludes by requesting that all school officials enforce the directive.

Kimberly Nyang’ate, a 17-year-old sister in Nairobi, states: “My parents have been called to school more than five times because of my religious stand. I am glad that we have this directive that will support our Bible-based stand.”

We are thankful that reasonable officials have put in place this directive, which will assist our schoolchildren in Kenya to continue steadfast in their religious convictions.—1 Corinthians 15:58.