eachers from the region following a wave of terror attacks, paralysing learning.
According to Ministry of Education figures, 32 teachers have been killed in terror attacks in the region over the past five years, prompting a wave of transfers and desertion.
SAFETY ASSURANCE
In an effort to prop up learning in the region, TSC has made the hiring of teachers willing to work there continuous, besides hiring retirees who are below the age of 65 years.
It has also introduced a rule that all non-local teachers working in North Eastern be posted only in urban centres, which are considered safer, and reduced the compulsory service period for teachers in one area to three years instead of five years.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (Kuppet) has condemned a push by the region’s MPs to get teachers deployed there without assurances about their security.
Kuppet on Saturday also supported a TSC move to transfer thousands of teachers from the region following a terrorist attack.
“For more than a week now, the politicians led by Majority Leader Aden Duale have strived to shift responsibility for the region’s education crisis from terrorists who target non-local teachers to the victims of the attacks,” said Secretary-General Akelo Misori.
Mr Misori said Mr Duale’s efforts to intimidate government officials over the transfer of teachers from the region should be resisted at all costs.
“We urge all leaders, including parliamentarians, to demand that Duale and other North Eastern region leaders pay more attention to the protection of teachers and all non-locals working or doing business in the region,” said Mr Misori.
ENTRY GRADE
He added that repeated claims by Mr Duale that non-Somali officials are responsible for the disruption of teaching services across the region do not bode well for national cohesion.
The Kuppet secretary in charge of secondary schools, Mr Edward Obwocha, said TSC should redeploy all non-local teachers from Northern Eastern counties and start posting them in their home counties.
In exchange, he said, senior teachers from the North Eastern region working in other regions should be redeployed to head schools in the five counties in that region.
“Kuppet is not prepared to mourn even a single teacher who might lose his or her life at the hands of terrorists again. We urge the North Eastern leaders to work closely with the government to ensure the security of teachers in their area instead of blaming the victims,” Mr Misori said.
For their part, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has asked leaders from the region to back a proposal to lower the entry grade of candidates to teacher-training colleges from C-plain to D+ as a solution to acute staffing of teachers in the region.
The proposal by former Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to lower the entry grade for marginalised counties saw 3,000 students admitted to teacher training colleges.
TEACHER SHORTAGE
While addressing education stakeholders at Granada Hotel in Mandera Town, Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion also proposed that the admission grade for teachers at the university be lowered from C+ to C.
For diploma training, the entry grade had been lowered from C+ to C. Mr Sossion said this was the most suitable way of dealing with staffing challenges in the region.
“Affirmative action should be the way forward in ending the perennial teacher shortage in these areas,” said Mr Sossion.
Last year, the 3,000 teacher trainees admitted with lower grades were dismissed after TSC set the minimum entry grade for P1 teachers at C-, and C-plain for diploma teachers.
“As an immediate measure to curb the current crisis in the region, we demand that the students are recalled, in-serviced and posted to institutions,” Mr Sossion said.
He also said that there is a justified need to continue the quest to elevate the status of education in the region by having native teachers posted there.
QUALITY AFFECTED
The counties that had the entry grades lowered were Turkana, Samburu, Wajir, Marsabit, Isiolo, Mandera, Garissa, Lamu, Baringo, Narok, Kajiado, Kwale, Kilifi, Taita-Taveta, Tana River and West Pokot.
This lowering of grades was made in accordance with legal provisions and following the 2018 Kenya National Qualifications Framework Regulations.
TSC threatened not to hire the teachers, prompting officials to reverse the decision. The agency’s boss, Dr Nancy Macharia, said at the time that lowering the entry grades would undermine the quality of education in the affected counties.
Knut is also urging the ministries of Education and Interior to work on a master plan that will ensure every school is provided with permanent security all year round.
Mr Sossion said the transfer and withdraw of teachers from North Eastern counties had undermined the free education policy for both primary and secondary schools.
The region has faced increased cases of insecurity occasioned by banditry, acts of terrorism and cattle rustling.
“This has adversely affected the security and welfare of teachers hence diminished their performance and general productivity,” said Mr Sossion.