Eldoret Catholic Archbishop Cornelius Korir has faulted the national government over a directive to close down all private and public institutions due to the on going teachers strike.
Terming the move 'out of order and ill-informed' and that 'it will not solve anything but instead will propel teachers to continue with their strike', Korir said that it is sad that the government does not have the welfare of the students at heart. This is due to lack of teachers to guide them in their studies and that it has depicted president Uhuru Kenyatta as the one who does not respect the rule of law despite the same court 'bringing him to power'.
Speaking on Sunday at the Eldoret church's premises, Korir said, "I am reading malice in the way the government is handling the teachers salary issue and yet millions of our poor students are at home. Closing schools is not the solution to teachers strike and instead, the government should have engaged dialogue to solve the teachers strike stalemate."
Bishop Korir wondered how the affected pupils and students will compensate for the time they have not been in class yet some of them are going to sit for the national exams.
"This is the first time the government is not showing interest in teachers salary increment. Why is it hard for them to pay teachers and saying that the wage bill will increase. It is out of order," he said.
He urged that the government to immediately resolve the teachers strike for schools to resume since children from the poor backgrounds are the ones who are suffering since their counterparts in private schools are continuing with their education.
"As men of the cloth, we are really dissapointed with this government for not putting into cosideration the plight of poor students by deciding to close the school," he said.