The Department of Adult Education, Tana River county, is experiencing a severe shortage of teachers which is threatening to derail the eradication of illiteracy among adults and youth learners in the area.
Tana River county Adult Education officer Robert Zonga said the county has only seven permanent teachers who are supported by 43 part-time teachers and four teachers employed by NGOs, resulting to a total of 54 teachers manning a total of 101 learning centres.
He was addressing a gathering at Hola Primary School during the International Literacy Day.
Zonga said Tana River has a total of 1,622 learners whereby 1,216 are female and 406 men.
He said the aim of the Department of Adult Education is to ensure that learners who do well in adult education classes and pass in national examinations such KCPE and KCSE are employed by counties, become nursery school teachers, or become self-employed.
Zonga said this year eight students have registered for KCPE examination and 15 students have registered for KCSE.
Speaking at the same function, Tana River county director of education Issack Khalif said about 67 per cent of the people in the county are illiterate and only 33 are literate, contributing to high poverty levels.
Khalif said the county is in position 44 in the 47 counties in terms of literacy levels while Mandera county is in position 47.
Tana River deputy county commissioner Joseph Lang’at urged the adult education department to ensure more adults join learning centres in order improve the literacy levels in the area.
“Next year, 2023, the number of adult learners should be doubled to about 3,000 learners to achieve high literacy levels,” he said.
Lang'at also said that adults who are educated could practise modern farming and treat their livestock that are suffering from animal diseases.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
