Balambala legislator Abdi Omar Shurie has asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to employ more teachers in Garissa County grappling with immense shortage following the exodus of non-local teachers due to insecurity in the region.
Speaking in Sankuri secondary school when he launched an Sh34 million Constituency Development Fund (CDF) bursary, Shurie said if the TSC fails to post more teachers, he will petition the National Assembly to compel the Commission to do so.
"The Commission has been using insecurity as an excuse of denying the residents of Garissa quality education although terrorism is a global problem," the MP said as quoted by Warsan FM, a local radio station.
According to the legislator, In his constituency alone, the 42 primary schools are grappling with a shortage of 140 teachers while the 5 Secondary schools have a shortage of 70 teachers.
"Without teachers, there is no school. There is no need for us to give bursaries when the ratio is one teacher to hundreds of students,” Shurie lamented.
This comes at a time TSC admitted that schools are facing a shortage of over 96,000 teachers. Ironically, there are over 300,000 jobless teachers in the countruy.