By Robert Nyagah
Embu Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) branch secretary has asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to hasten the return of teachers moved from the county during the delocalization period to reduce the ongoing shortage of teachers.
Branch secretary, Mr. Josphat Kathumi, said that hundreds of teachers moved from the county during delocalization have unsuccessfully sought their return for a long time.
“We are appealing to the Regional Directors of Education to support the program and work closely with TSC to have Embu teachers working elsewhere who have sought transfers to be returned to the County immediately for the sake of learners”, said Mr. Kathumi
Mr. Kathumi accused the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) of deliberately failing to implement a resolution made by parliament cancelling the unpopular delocalization which had been irregularly implemented by the government in haste and irregularity.
The KNUT secretary described the delays in the movement of the teachers as unfair to Embu people and wondered why the TSC was working against a clear resolution from parliament.
“We want the teachers back to Embu as per the resolution of parliament”.
Speaking to the Education News in his Embu town headquarters, the unionist blamed the present shortage of more than 200 teachers in various schools in the County to what he termed as “deliberate negligence by the TSC to stem the problem”.
The teacher’s shortage and continued disruption of learning as the few teachers available strained to take large numbers of lessons, he said, had continued to have negative effects on successful teaching of innocent learners in the County.
“The shortage if not dealt with haste will have very negative effects on the performance of Embu children in their national examinations and all that will squarely be blamed on the TSC, the same body which is supposed to promote campaigns for successful education in the Country,” he lamented.
He further claimed that a large number of schools in the county do not have principals, head teachers and their deputies despite numerous appeals to the TSC to hire the required personnel to ease management of the institution had fallen on deaf ears. He says schools have been left with unqualified teaching personnel.
Teachers’ shortages, Mr. Kathumi said, also affected the teaching of the Junior Secondary Schools because of the large number of lessons the teachers in lower primary schools are now being forced to extend their services to JSS were being forced to handle.
“Some teachers are overstretched due to the many lessons they are handling and unless the government wants to fail in implementation of JSS education, it has to hire more teachers and intensify training programs to ensure the present team of teachers are well skilled to tackle the JSS students”, said Mr. Kathumi.
