Teachers from Kisii County working in areas facing security challenges have called upon the government to assure them of their security before they return to work.
The teachers, who work in three counties in the Northern sides of Kenya have alternatively requested to be transferred to other areas, but the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has turned down their requests, insisting that they must report to their respective schools in a week’s time.
According to Samuel Nyabaro, who is a teacher in Mandera, they still fear the fact that most parts of the county are insecure and the government has not assured them of security.
“We last witnessed teachers lose lives when travelling from the Northern side of Kenya and nothing has yet been done so far, we fear to go to work because we don’t know what will happen to us in the next day,” said Nyabaro
The situation was worsened late last year, after a bus was attacked while travelling from Mandera, with 28 passengers losing their lives, with majority being teachers.
However, the TSC Secretary General Gabriel Lengoiboni has assured the teachers that the government had beefed up security in the affected areas, and the teachers should be back at work by January 26.
He said TSC had consulted other government agencies to address security concerns raised by the affected teachers, who had visited the TSC headquarters on January 5.