NCIC wants quota system abolished

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission has called for the abolition of the quota system of admission to schools as a measure to curb ethnicity.

NCIC vice chairperson Mary Onyango said Tuesday the practice has been the root cause for increased ethnicity in the country, which has polarised it along tribal lines.

The Commission also the Sessional Paper No. Of 1965 which encourages African socialisation, without regard to other ethnic groups living in the country scrapped.

“We have already suggested to the government that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) stops the current system of teachers’ deployment. There are some teachers who have never been out of their home districts since they were born. How do we expect them to preach nationhood?” she asked.

Ms Onyango was addressing Kenya Secondary Schools Head Teachers Association annual general conference for Nairobi teachers at Pangoni Beach Hotel in Mombasa.

Teachers present lamented the practice by TSC to rotate them within secluded districts, thus denying them the opportunity to appreciate other cultures.

This practice, Ms Onyango says has helped in heightening tension among Kenyan tribes.

“If for example I was to study in Kisumu from primary and join a secondary school in Kisumu and then join Maseno University in Kisumu and become a teacher in Kisumu, do you think I would appreciate anyone from Central or Coast?” she posed.

Another major problem cited as a hotspot for trouble in future is the ethnic based students’ organisations in Kenyan universities.

NCIC believes that organisations such as Luo Students Union, Meru Students Union and others have eroded students’ movement in the country.

Ms Onyango said in the 1970s when there was only SONU as the students organisation, affairs were managed in a more professional and mature manner as opposed to a situation where students are elected to positions on the basis of the strength of their communities.

“We would like to see students’ organisations revert to those of national outlook. And I believe head teachers can help us by instilling this culture of nationhood from childhood,” she said.

On resettling of IDPs, the commissioner differed with the government’s plan to force internally displaced persons on other people.

“You cannot bring healing by settling people at another area before talking to the host communities. It is better they are taken back to their homes instead of creating more animosity,” she said.