Striking North Eastern Teachers Back To Class

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) made good its threats and started the replacement process after teachers posted in the region refused to report to work over security concerns.

In Garissa, 30 out of the 71 teachers who had travelled to TSC headquaters in Nairobi to join their colleagues in the demonstrations against insecurity have already returned to work as 46 and 34 slots in primary and secondary schools respectively having been occupied new recruits.

TSC County Director Shabaan Mohammed has, however, noted that the county still faces a deficit of 550 teachers at primary school level and 100 at the secondary school level.

STABILIZING LEARNING

So far, only 14 applications for the positions declared vacant have been received from the locals.

TSC advertised 1,089 teaching positions in counties and schools in North Eastern region “to stabilise learning”.

A statement by TSC Secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni earlier noted that in the positions advertised, 637 were for primary schools while 452 posts were for post primary teachers.

TSC further advertised 1,350 positions to fill vacancies left by teachers who have exited the service.

More than 2,000 teachers posted to parts of North Eastern defied an order by their employer to report back to school saying their security demands had not been met.

Trouble started in November last year when 24 teachers were gunned down by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Mandera as they were heading home for the Christmas holidays.

By Maureen Murimi