Tuesday October 23, 2018
LEWIS NYAUNDI
A group of teachers posted to Mandera, Garissa and Wajir protest outside Parliament on February 3 2015 over insecurity at their stations.
About 500 Marsabit and Isiolo teachers have protested against their transfer to what they call “conflict-plagued Mandera”.
They said they fear for their lives because terrorist attacks and communal clashes are more frequent in Northeastern county bordering Somalia.
They are required to report to their new workstations in January next year as schools reopen for first term. Schools will reopen on January 2. The mass transfer comes after Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia defended the delocalisation policy. She said 312,000 teachers would be transferred across the country.
The situation in Northeastern has been precarious. Al Shabaab militants have been targetting non-native teachers along the Kenya-Somalia border.
On October 10, two teachers were killed. Non-natives also say they suffer discrimination on the basis of their colour, religion, dress\and language. The natives refer to them using derogatory and demeaning terms, they say.
About 3,000 non-native teachers have been transferred from Wajir and Mandera over security concerns. Others refused to report back to work. The exodus disrupted learning in most schools. Last month, Education CS Amina Mohamed told Parliament that the government would employ local 1,200 curriculum assistants (untrained teachers) to work in northern Kenya..
The latest transfer is, therefore, a move to fix the shortage. But the teachers have questioned the TSC’s decision to transfer them three months after taking up roles in schools within their localities.
The TSC has defended the transfer. A source privy to the mass transfer told the Star that most teachers going to Mandera share a common ancestry with local communities and will be easily assimilated.
But teachers have dismissed the claim and said they have no common descent.
“We’ve been transferred to Mandera. We’re Muslims and Boranas. Boranas and Somalis are two different communities and at times they have rivalry over pasture and water. Not all Boranas are Muslims. We find it unfair,” one teacher told the Star.
He said their lives are at stake.
The Garre and Borana communities have previously clashed, mostly over territory, pasture and water.Both are pastoralists.
“The TSC approach will likely not solve the problem in Northern Kenya. In any case, it might just amount to peeling the skin over a healing wound. They should look for another solution,” another teacher said.