Nairobi — The procedure used to investigate cases of sexual abuse in schools by teachers is ineffective, a new report says.

The method involves Teachers Service Commission (TSC) officers travelling to schools to investigate suspects and to deal with cases within three months.

The report released on Monday said though aimed at fast-tracking disciplinary action against sex offenders, the method compromised the adjudication process.

"The prosecutor (TSC) becomes the investigator," says the report.

The procedure was mostly followed when education officers failed to submit evidence on sexual offenders in time.

But the report, an overview of TSC procedures, systems and policies addressing girl child sexual abuse in schools, casts serious aspersions on the credibility of evidence gathered from such investigations and the kind of justice dispensed by an investigator who is also the prosecutor.

"This goes against the rules of natural justice," the report says.

It states that some disciplinary cases were concluded only for the purposes of meeting targets.

"To finalise a case, the prosecution is forced to make do with sketchy information which sometimes forces it to declare the guilty innocent or vice versa."

The report calls for stiffer penalties for teachers who sexually abuse their charges, saying the current punishment where offenders are sacked and taken off the register is not deterrent enough.

It also calls for ways to make it easier for learners and parents to report offenders.

It said boxes should be placed in schools where reports on teachers involved in abuse of children can be dropped.

The report also recommends that a national survey be carried out to establish the extent of the vice.

Up to 12,660 girls may have been defiled over a five-year period and 633 teachers were charged with the offences.