By NIGMA DUALE
The acute shortage of teachers in Garissa, Wajir and Mandera counties is a ticking time bomb. Most public schools are either understaffed or lack teachers due to an exodus of non-Somali teachers following terrorist attacks allegedly targeting them. Some schools are on verge of closure.
The issue was hyped when 28 Kenyans, 17 of them teachers, were killed by terrorists who ambushed a bus on November 22, 2014. Teachers were not the target; teachers happened to be the majority passengers. Since then terror has become the major justification for transfers by non-Somali teachers in these three counties.
On February 22 this year, Teachers’ Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia told the Parliamentary Committee on Education it was transferring non-local tutors following a terrorist attack in Qarsa village, Wajir, on February 16. Four people, among them three teachers, were shot dead by militants. This has been met with resistance by the local communities and leaders.
A recent advert for new recruits received massive response from applicants from outside the region. Reports now indicate that most teachers leaving Northeastern only applied for the jobs before seeking transfers to their home subcounties. In Mandera, for instance, not all the six subcounties are affected by terrorist attacks, but even teachers in secure areas are leaving.
Only teachers employed by the TSC are leaving, those in private schools continue to discharge their responsibilities. Most private schools in Wajir, Mandera and Garissa are taught by non-Somali teachers. So the big question is, what is the motivation for the exodus of TSC-employed teachers?
Further, there are private schools owned by non-Somalis whose teachers have not left. The owners and teachers affirm that terrorists not only target non-locals but local teachers as well. Non-Somali civil servants, NGO employees and business people have not left either.
TSC’s casual withdrawal of teachers without a comprehensive long-term plan to address the problem, may be a recipe for radicalisation and more attacks.
Experiences from other parts that have suffered attacks tell a different story. Terrorism, and crime in general, has not been common to Northeastern alone, but other parts such as Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu.
Parts of Mombasa and Kwale counties experienced insecurity at the height of the clamour for secession by the Mombasa Republican Council. However, the areas did not grapple with the problem of teachers’ exodus. The same goes for areas ravaged by inter-clan feuds and cattle rustling attacks such as Turkana, Pokot and Tana River. There is more than meets the eye in the Northeastern exodus.
The government needs to draft a blueprint to turn around education in Northeastern. This should focus on recruiting O level school leavers to teachers’ training colleges. It should lower entry grades for P1 teachers from C, establish more training colleges from the current two and improve the terms of teachers in hardship areas.
The TSC must come up with a policy where teachers posted in the region have to stay for a particular period before they can be transferred. The government should consider reintroducing hardship allowance. The two levels of the government could introduce scholarships for those pursuing the teaching career to increase enrolment.
The recent Mandera Teachers’ Training College provides the best hope of addressing the shortage throughout Northeastern. Efforts must be made to support this initiative.
Residents see the move by the TSC as a continuation of their marginalisation since Independence. Even before the recent terror attacks, Northeastern had some of the worst poverty indicators. Just over 40 per cent of primary-age children attending school compared with the national average of 77 per cent. Research shows a large percentage of children don’t make it to secondary school. For the few that do, just 10 per cent get the grades to enrol in a public university. For the past three years there has been no A- or A in the KCSE exam. Leaders say by withdrawing teachers, the TSC is playing into the hands of Al Shabaab, whom they claim plan to terrorise Kenyans by instilling fear.
Source: The Star