TSC transfers teachers in Wajir from areas prone to attacks

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has begun transferring teachers from insecure areas to safer ones within Wajir County following a recent terror attack in Garissa which left three tutors dead.

This comes at a time when teachers have expressed fear for their lives due to the resurgence of Al-Shabaab attacks in northern Kenya.

On Monday, heavily armed militants conducted a pre-dawn raid in Kamuthe, Garissa County, and executed the male teachers.

Three female teachers and a nurse were spared by the militants during the attack.

PUPILS KILLED

Just a week earlier, suspected Al-Shabaab militants carried out a similar attack at Saretho Primary School killing four pupils.

Three pupils and a security officer were also injured in the attack.

The two incidents have left teachers working in Garissa, Wajir and Mandera counties in great fear, forcing some of them to flee from their work stations while others have demanded immediate transfers.

Wajir County TSC Director Solomon Leseewa told journalists that teachers working along the Kenyan-Somalia border have already been given transfer letters to schools believed to be safe.

“All these teachers have already been issued with letters and have been posted to schools that are located in secure places within the county," he said.

VISIT TSC OFFICES

He called on teachers who are stationed in areas perceived to be insecure to visit TSC offices in Wajir town for further directions.

Mr Liseewa said that the move is aimed at ensuring all teachers are safe in order to enable them discharge their duties with fewer challenges.

But the education official could not give the number of teachers and schools affected by the transfers, saying they are still compiling the list.

"We can't give conclusive data at the moment as we are still transferring them, but we will provide accurate data at a later date," he said.

Schools within Tarbaj and parts of Wajir East and Wajir South sub-counties will be greatly affected by the move as the areas have been marked as terror hotspots.

BRUNT OF ATTACKS

This move is likely to affect education in some schools within the county as there are currently no immediate replacements for the transferred teachers.

But unlike in the past when teachers were moved to other parts of the country, this time round they are being transferred within the county.

Wajir County has borne the brunt of Al-Shabaab attacks in the past which has negatively affected education.

In 2018, there was a mass exodus of teachers from the region after Al-Shabaab militants attacked Qarsa Primary School in Wajir East killing three people including two teachers.

The attack almost brought education in the county to its knees after several schools were closed due to lack of teachers.

Earlier this week, Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Wilson Sossion called on Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha to convene an urgent meeting to discuss the security of teachers following the Garissa terror attack.