Teachers decry Thika Town MP's hiring proposal

Teachers employed under school Boards of Management (BOM) within Thika Town constituency but come from other areas have raised concern over being forced to apply for teaching vacancies in their home areas.

They said having taught in the constituency for years under the school BOM they deserve an employment chance just like the locals.

They were reacting to sentiments by Thika MP Alice Ng’ang’a that only teachers who are registered as voters in the constituency will be given priority in the recruitment drive.

We have taught here for years and now that there are teaching vacancies, we are being sent to our rural homes for the same. Is this fair?" posed Antony Karanja, one of the teachers.

While addressing the over 200 unemployed teachers in her constituency, Ng’ang’a said priority will be given to BOM teachers, who missed out during the past teachers’ recruitments exercises.

She however said applying for the vacancies in one’s rural constituency gives them a better chance of getting employed.

“Why would you get a slot in Thika, yet you vote elsewhere? This amounts to denying a local teacher a slot. However, if we get many slots, we shall include all of you. We are helping you because you stand a better chance to get the job in your constituency,” the MP said.

Ng’ang’a decried the vastness of her constituency that accommodates two subcounties of Thika West and Thika East, saying they deserve to be allocated more slots, compared to the less populated areas.

She said this would address the gap in the pupil, teacher ratio that is high in her constituency.

"Why would heavily populated constituencies like Ruiru and Thika get the same number of slots as those from less populated regions like Lamu constituencies? We shall present our case to ensure we get more slots,” she said.

Teachers led by Assumpta Lora and John Kinyua expressed optimism that they will be lucky this time round.

They said they have applied for the positions several times in the past but were unlucky.

"We are confident that this is our turn and we laud the government for opening this opportunity," Kinyua said.

The government has announced plans to employ 30,000 teachers across the country in the next few days.

Teachers Service Commission chief executive Nancy Macharia has since said the teaching vacancies will be shared out equally to ensure all the 47 counties get enough teachers to address shortages.

 

 

-Edited by SKanyara