886 teachers moved from north eastern

The Teachers’ Service Commission has yielded to pressure and transferred 886 teachers who had declined to go back to north eastern Kenya due to insecurity.

The teachers have reported to their new stations after a protracted court battle with their employer.

They have been transferred to Kitale, Mombasa, Lamu, Kilifi, and Turkana counties among other areas that have a shortages of teacher. The move places in jeopardy the quality of education in the affected counties.

However, the fate of 200 remaining teachers is still under review.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers, which moved to court to contest the suspension of the teachers, confirmed the transfer.

“Yes, the teachers were transferred to various stations across the country. They are happy and serving students in those new stations,” said Secretary-General Wilson Sossion.

He said the teachers had their suspension lifted and were transferred after the High Court directed commission to move them.

Mr Sossion said an additional 1,000 teachers who declined to go back following the Garissa University College massacre are still on suspension.

However, he said the union would not relent until insecurity in the area was tackled.

The move is a setback to education in northern Kenya which has been hit by terrorist attacks in the last two years.

Other civil servants have also been reluctant to work in the area saying they were targeted by terrorists.

More than 1,089 teachers had boycotted work after terrorists butchered more than 20 teachers in November.

The teachers, who are not natives of north eastern region, had also complained of harassment by locals.

Despite sacking threats, the teachers camped at the teachers commission headquarters for a month and were later suspended.

Teachers who spoke to the Sunday Nation praised the commission for heeding their appeal and promised to attend to students with dedication.

Attempts to get a comment from commission chief executive Nancy Macharia did not bear fruit as her phone went unanswered.

Early this year, the commission sought the services of retired teachers after it failed to attract enough teachers despite several attempts. Learning in the area, which includes Wajir, Mandera and Garissa, has been adversely affected.

The commission has since started the recruitment of 5,000 teachers who are set to report to work next month.