Duale changes position on teachers’ crisis, hits out at Sossion

[Deeq A.]

National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale now says that Northeastern region will not be used as the recruiting ground for non-local teachers.

Since the Qarsa attack in Wajir a month ago, non-local teachers teaching in Wajir and Mandera have been camping at the TSC demanding for transfers to safer areas.

The commission has since given at least 960 their transfer letters, as a result, education has completely been grounded in schools especially in Wajir being closed.

On Thursday, the teachers working in Mandera county while appearing before the National Assembly education committee narrated harrowing experiences in the hands of students, head teachers, and education administrators.

They sighted insecurity, sexual harassment, discrimination on the basis of sex and religion, unfair labor practice and denial to access justice.

But Duale termed their allegations as ‘farfetched’ saying that the teachers as insincere and only were only interested in securing jobs first before engineering transfers.

“I want to make it very clear to those teachers if you want to get a transfer from NEP go ahead and get one but don’t smear our community. just because of you a transfer from TSC you to call the Somali community all manner of names. give us a break we will not accept that,” said Duale.

He added: “This culture of teachers coming to NEP, they get jobs, take our slots and then when there is a small incident of insecurity they start asking for transfers will not be accepted,” said Duale.

“If teachers want to use northeastern as a recruiting ground, we are telling TSC not to employ non-locals for our region. We don’t want them at all,” said Duale.

A visibly angry Duale oblivious of the fact that his utterances might trigger condemnation said that as a leader he was ‘under obligation to defend our community.’

Duale challenged the locals to take up education courses to address the crisis saying that the solution lies with them.

Duale was addressing hundreds of students, on Saturday, drawn from schools within his Garissa township constituency during a career and motivational talk organized by students from Kenyatta university who hail from the region.

“Sossion you can as well stay with your teachers. we don’t want them completely. But I can assure him that we will have a plan. but it’s the obligation of the ministry of education and TSC to give a solution. The children of northeastern also have their constitutional right,” said Duale.

Source: Hivisasa