The Kenya Teachers in Hardship and Arid Areas Welfare Association (KETHAWA) has asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to stop victimizing teachers working in North Eastern and other hardship areas.
Through National Secretary Wangonya Wangenye, KETHAWA told TSC to first address their welfare adding that interdicting the teachers will not solve any problem.
He noted that the Association is willing to arbitrate between the recently interdicted teachers who went to the Commission headquarters to seek transfer from the North Eastern region and TSC, to ensure that the matter is resolved amicably.
“These teachers work in extremely very hard and difficult conditions, and unless we bite the bullet and address their welfare first, interdicting them will not solve any of the problems, it will only escalate the already volatile condition,” said Wangenye.
He added, “In fact, the more TSC interdicts them, the more they are hardened by the difficulties and challenges they undergo. As an association that represents them, we are more than ready to arbitrate between these teachers and TSC so that they are reinstated back to the payroll unconditionally and their welfare issues addressed as a matter of priority.”
Wangenye said that even the Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof. Kithure Kindiki admitted that teachers working in North Eastern undergo a number of challenges.
He said that on April 14, 2023, the Association wrote to TSC suggesting solutions to challenges facing teachers in hardship and arid areas, one of them being to ensure they are accorded transfer on request after at least two years or when their security is at risk.
“If TSC had considered the content of this letter in their recently concluded Collective Bargaining Agreement with unions, we wouldn’t be witnessing such ugly scenarios. However, all is not lost, and it’s only through dialogue, exhaustive consultation, and openness by all parties that we can solve these challenges together for the betterment of education in our country,” said Wangenye.
“We are now heading to the exam period that will be characterized by a myriad of challenges by supervisors and invigilators in hardship areas. Let’s the government not bury its head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich. It’s high time we face this reality and address it once and for all,” he added.
This comes days after TSC interdicted teachers who are non-locals seeking transfer from the North Eastern region citing desertion of duty. This is after the teachers failed to report to their workstations when the Commission instructed them to do so in September this year.
For weeks, the teachers have been camping at the TSC Headquarters seeking to be transferred from the region, citing insecurity fueled by the Al-Shabaab terror group and hostility from the local community. The teachers say that the Commission has not bothered to address the issues they have been raising.
The Commission directed the interdicted teachers to make a defense statement in 21 days adding that it will give the teachers an opportunity to be heard in person and asked them to indicate the nearest TSC sub-county offices where they will be reporting once a month.
It also asked them to present any other evidence to support cases, vacate office, provide contact addresses, emails, and telephone numbers, and forfeit annual leave.
By Roy Hezron
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