The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji has threatened to charge the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) officials for failing to put in place policies that safeguard teachers who are stationed in volatile areas.
Speaking during a TSC stakeholders forum in Garissa town, the DPP called on the Commissioners to fast-track solutions that would be key in addressing problems of teachers who continuously face suffering due to insecurity.
“If you’re not going to address the issues of the teachers, we will become a burden for the whole of Kenya and this problem will come to your own doorstep. We cannot afford to have one teacher in one school, that is just not acceptable in today’s Kenya,” he affirmed.
He poked holes into the Nancy Macharia-led administration, stating that the commission is solely responsible for the protection of the teachers but their plight remains unheard.
He stated that the ongoing trend is alarming and the issue needed to be treated with the utmost urgency-failure to which, the whole commission would be dealt with affirmatively.
“Under section 7 of the Children Act, I can charge the whole commission for refusing to give education to Kenyan and to the children,” he noted.
He further called for the creation of a department within TSC to deal with the plight of tutors in the regions that are highly regarded as volatile areas.
He noted that the department’s mandate would be to find solutions to ensure all children access their fundamental right to education.
“It is high time that in the North, including hostile areas such as Samburu, we must have a department that will look into that, that will use statistics and data in order to find amicable solutions,” he pointed out.
Haji’s remarks come days after the government relocated hundreds of KCPE/KCSE candidates set to sit for the national examinations in the coming week. The students were moved from areas affected by banditry attacks such as Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
The move came after the Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Mohammed Maalim held meetings with Education stakeholders in order to ensure the safety of the candidates.
“I have already initiated a meeting with the county commissioners, the regional security intelligence committee and education officials within the course of this week.”
“We will have that meeting so that we put security measures and other logistical arrangements to make sure we have smooth running,” he stated.
The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) will kick off on March 7, 2022, while the Kenya National Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) is scheduled to begin on March 12, 2022.
