“You are required to urgently submit data on those with an educational background. Mahat Dore, the deputy county secretary, will follow up with you and you are required to cooperate with him,” the memo said.
Abdullahi, who is himself a teacher by profession, told the staff that this was a stop-gap measure until a durable solution can be found.
He spoke on the sidelines of a meeting in Wajir town on Wednesday.
“Imagine a school which used to have 30 teachers with a population of 1,000 learners now has a skeletal staff of six tutors. Some have only three local teachers. In some cases, only the headteacher, a local, has been left to staff the institution,” he said.
He said the county plans to recruit secondary school graduates who scored C grade and above in the KCSE exam to teach on a contract basis.
They will receive a monthly stipend — the amount yet to be decided — to be drawn from the county government, CDF and county ward funds.
In an interview with the BBC Somali Service Governor Mohamed Abdi criticised the TSC's withdrawal of teachers and said the county cannot just sit down and watch children go without an education.
“I understand the pain and the frustration our people are going through because of the education crisis in the region. It is not unfair and irresponsible of the Government of Kenya to allow the TSC and the Ministry of Education to play around with the emotions of our people and future of the new generation,” Abdi said.
He added, “We have to go out of our way ensure we help to educate our children. even if it means going against the law. The bottom line is the children, just like those from other parts of the country, deserve an education, which is their right and not negotiable,” he said.
Abdi said on Sunday the region's leadership will sue the TSC for transferring all non-local teachers from the region. He said insecurity and the perennial teachers crisis that undermines education will form part of the region’s recommendations to the BBI team in Garissa on February 24.
(Edited by V. Graham)
