After the mass transfer of teachers from the North-Eastern region by the Teachers Service Commission due to increased cases of insecurity in the area, learners have been left without proper facilitation for their studies.
At Iftin Primary School in Garissa County, area chief Dekow Mohammud has taken up the major role of a teacher now getting in the classes to ensure learning continues especially for the Class Eight pupils.
In a video published by Citizen Digital on Wednesday, February 5, the chief volunteered to take over the Mathematics and religious lessons for Class Eight pupils who he considered the most vulnerable at the moment.
According to the chief, most of the teachers left the institution and almost crippled the learning, leaving him with no option but to intervene.
“Right now twenty-three non-local teachers have already left leaving only twelve teachers against thirty-four. It is clear that unless something is done, education at the school is on the verge of collapsing,” remarked the chief.
Dekow, who also served as a teacher before assuming the chief role, stated that he was personally touched when he learned that the non-local teachers at the school had left leaving behind only 12 teachers to take care of a school with a population of over 2,000 pupils.
The chief also indicated that he begins his classes at around 6 a.m. until break time before going to his office to serve the public in his capacity as the chief.
The chief further appealed to the Teachers Service Commission to review its decision of transferring teachers stating that it was going against the right of education for the children.
On Tuesday, February 5, Ijara MP Sofia Abdinor stormed the TSC office in Garissa and locked it up following a mass exodus of teachers stationed in the area.
The angry MP who made an impromptu visit to the offices caught the staff unawares and demanded to know whether the office had a solution to the current teacher crisis occasioned by the mass transfers.
Efforts by the Garissa Sub County TSC Director, Hussein Abdullahi Abdi to calm down the irate lawmaker did not help matters as she insisted that it was the TSC that had arrived at the decision that had now held the region at ransom.
The MP then proceeded to order all the staff out of the offices and locked up the offices with new padlocks that she had carried with her.
“I have a problem with 15 teachers that we employed after we pleaded with TSC to employ them on a permanent basis and who had signed a five-year contract. After seven months they are running away, saying that our area is insecure.
“They are doing this with the blessing of TSC. They don’t deserve to be called teachers. They should be ashamed,” remarked the MP.
