The Kenya National Union of Teachers has demanded strengthened security for their members working in Northeastern region.
Speaking at a Garissa hotel yesterday during the Garissa branch AGM, Knut assistant national treasurer Kullow Sheikh said matters security cannot be compromised.
“If the government sincerely wants to support education here, they should up the security so that our teachers feel secure,” he said.
In attendance was Garissa Township MP Dekow Mohammed.
The region has witnessed a mass exodus of teachers following issues of insecurity, which has had a negative effect on performance in national examinations.
Kullow said even though the government has put in place extra measures to secure the region, more needs to be done to protect teachers and schools.
He said teachers cannot deliver well if they do not feel safe in the schools.
“The buses transporting teachers during opening and closing of schools should also be escorted by police in these areas, especially the Nairobi-Mandera and Wajir-Mandera routes,” he said.
Kullow thanked the President for the task-force on education reforms, adding that the teachers fully support the implementation of all the recommendations.
“As a union, we want to be at the forefront on the implementation of the task force on education reforms. We will work with all stakeholders in the government to ensure that these reforms are carried out,” he said.
Garissa Governor Nathif Jama said as along as insecurity remains a challenge, important sectors like education will suffer.
Jama said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that schools in all parts of the country have enough teachers who are protected to carry out their duties well.
He regretted that residents had refused to enrol for teaching courses even after his administration promised scholarships for students to pursue the courses.
“We have Garissa Teachers Training College here,” Jama said.
“We cannot keep blaming teachers from other regions for refusing to go schools in places like Hulugho or other interior areas in the county because our young people have refused to enrol for teaching courses.
“If our own do not want to teach our children, why are we blaming others for refusing to teach here?”
Dekow said education remains the biggest equaliser. He called on the government to invest more in ensuring security is realised.
He encouraged residents to be involved by sharing actionable intelligence to the security apparatus for action to be taken before attacks occur.
“We are who we are today because of you teachers. Education is the only thing that brings together the poor and the rich to discuss thing that are of importance both at the national and community level,” Dekow said.
“So we have every reason to support this very important sector and ensure it is not grounded.”
He urged all stakeholders to encourage Form 4 leavers to take up teaching courses.
The numbers are very low, which has directly contributed to teacher shortage, he said.
Knut Garissa executive Abdirizack Hussein took issue with TSC failure to confirm many teachers who have been serving as school heads on an acting capacity for long despite going through the interviews recently.
In April, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua announced plans by the government to train more local teachers in Northeastern.
Gachagua said the government was exploring ways of ensuring more local teachers are trained to bridge the gap left when non-locals leave due to threats from terror attacks.
