North Eastern Non-local Teachers Issue Demands before Resuming Duties
Teachers from outside the northern regions of Kenya are asking for protection from the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) before starting their jobs, as their requests to be relocated to other areas were denied.
They sought these transfers through the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) because they claimed to face frequent attacks by suspected al-Shabaab militants.
Moses Nthurima, the Deputy Secretary-General of Kuppet, emphasized the serious security threats these foreign teachers face due to al-Shabaab’s presence. He mentioned that in the past decade, al-Shabaab has been responsible for the deaths of 40 teachers, with four such incidents happening in the last two months.
Northern Kenya is categorized as a “hard-to-staff” region by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), where schools often lack sufficient staff, and job postings receive few applications. Nthurima called on the Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security, Prof. Kithure Kindiki, to establish a dedicated KDF unit responsible for escorting teachers in the region, particularly in vulnerable settlements, to ensure their safety. He stressed that teachers should not bear the costs resulting from security issues.
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Nthurima mentioned that the union had unsuccessfully tried to convince the TSC to move these teachers, some of whom have been waiting at the commission’s headquarters and have not returned to their schools for three weeks since the term began.
The teachers were recently informed that their transfer requests were denied due to a lack of suitable replacements and were told to report to their assigned schools or face disciplinary action.
Most of these educators come from Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa counties. The TSC had previously announced plans to redeploy teachers affected by the de-localization policy, but due to a shortage of replacements or openings at their preferred locations, only a portion of the transfer requests had been processed as of June 2023.
Out of the primary school teachers requesting transfers, only 17,942 out of 35,959 were successful, and in post-secondary institutions, only 2,113 out of 10,967 applications were accepted.
North Eastern Non-local Teachers Issue Demands before Resuming Duties
