By John Majau
Teachers in Tharaka-Nithi County have urged the Teachers Service Commission to spare the elderly teachers from the ongoing delocalisation exercise.
They said it will be very hard and almost impossible for them to adapt to new environment due to advanced age.
Speaking in Chuka town during an education forum, Igambang’ombe branch Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Executive Secretary Njeru Mutani and Chuka Girls’ High School Principal Florence Mutwiri both said the transfers should only target teachers below 50 years of age.
The KNUT official said the best way of bringing integration to the country is by natural marriage and not through transfer of married couple.
Mutani said delocalisation will lead to family breakdown, immorality and divorce instead of integration.
Mutwiri said that the elderly male teachers are the hardest hit by the transfers specifically because the African culture, beliefs, traditions and practices forbid men from engaging in any domestic chores including cooking, washing and cleaning of utensils or houses.
She said majority of them have never performed such duties in their entire life time noting that it will be a tall order for them to adapt due to advanced age.
“Age should be the determining factor in the delocalisation exercise. Those in the age bracket of 40’s and below can adapt to any situation. Let the government transfer them and spare those aged over 50. Mentally, the elderly are not prepared for the transfer because they have very few years left before they retire,” said Mutwiri.
She added: “The greatest challenge the newly posted teachers will face is the language barrier and lack of good will from the community”.
