KUPPET Calls for Teachers Salary Review in High-Risk Counties
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has called for a review of teacher salaries in the three northern Eastern counties, as well as Turkana and Tana River, which also confront security issues.
Deputy Secretary-General, Moses Nthurima noted that teachers’ current hardship allowance is “not commensurate with the dangers teachers face in these regions”.
Just weeks prior to the teachers’ demonstrations, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki urged the TSC to consider deploying non-local teachers in the insecure Northern counties for shorter durations and then redistributing them.
The CS informed a parliamentary education committee on August 2 that the mental health of non-local instructors is affected by insecurity.
ALSO READ: North-Eastern Teachers Protest at TSC Offices, Demand Transfers Over Al-Shabaab Threats
Through incitement, locals, he told the committee, contribute to the insecurity of non-native instructors.
“We are facing a number of threats in the Northern region. We have intelligence that the terror groups have increased for reasons beyond us,” Prof Kindiki said.
According to Kindiki, Local communities are involved in some degree of incitement against non-local teachers, and as a result, some of the threats originate from the communities themselves.
The security minister also suggested temporarily putting the teachers in a single area to shield them from al-Shabaab attacks.
ALSO READ: Non-Local Teachers Moved to Safer Areas Following Terrorist Threats in North Eastern
According to the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Mandera County requires over 2,000 teachers to fill vacancies in 300 public primary schools and 550 public secondary schools.
The senseless murder of 28 teachers in Mandera eight years ago was blamed on the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Internal Security for failing to respond to petitions from North Eastern teachers.
In petitions to their employer, the TSC, for transfer or enhanced security, teachers described harrowing experiences at the hands of students, head teachers, parents, and county education officers who referred to them in a derogatory manner as adhome (slaves), nguraro (‘hard’ hair), and kafir (unholy).
ALSO READ: Kindiki Asks TSC to Shorten Services of Non-Local Teachers in North-Eastern
KUPPET Calls for Teachers Salary Review in High-Risk Counties
