Teachers oppose shift to 'unsafe' Mandera county
Tuesday October 23, 2018
LEWIS NYAUNDI
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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.
Teachers oppose shift to 'unsafe' Mandera county
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 Northeaste