The Teachers Service Commission has been given a rare standing ovation by a section of teachers who had quit from their teaching stations due to insecurity in the northeastern part of Kenya.
Led by Mr Cornelius Kerauni on Thursday at Nyaronge village during a burial ceremony, the five teachers who narrowly survived the Mandera massacre in which at least 28 people were killed by suspected Al Shabaab militants praised TSC for giving them transfer letters.
They asked the teachers’ employer to consider the security of the teacher before subjecting them to the ‘tough and unbearable’ regions for the teaching mission.
“We are very humbled to be given transfer letters by the TSC. This was long overdue but it is good that they bowed to our demands since we could no longer work in the troubled region,” Mr Kerauni said.
“The security of a teacher is important than anything else. The government should put necessary mechanisms to boost security in the insecure regions of the country before posting teachers there,” he added.
They, however, challenged TSC to release their February and March salaries in compliance with the court’s order since some of them are said to be servicing loans in various credit banks.
“I would like to ask the government to release our March and February salaries without condition. The court had ordered so on April and the order ought to be respected,” said Pius Ondieki.
They had been teaching in various local schools as board of management teachers and from now, they will be joining schools of their choice.