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Senate warns teachers’ unions on withdrawals

sossion

Knut secretary-general Wilson Sossion. FILE photo | nmg

Senate has warned teachers’ unions against asking members to withdraw services in insecurity-prone regions, saying the move will escalate the problem.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers and (Knut) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (Kuppet) last week called on the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to withdraw tutors from the terror-prone north eastern region.

This follows the killing of three teachers by suspected Al-Shabaab militants who raided Qarsa Primary School on Friday morning.

“We wish to tell Knut and Kuppet to desist from their push to have teachers withdraw services. We do not need to worsen a situation that is already ugly,” Senate Committee on Education vice chairperson Margaret Kamar.

She said the focus should instead be on how to deal with the terrorists as such an attack is not a reserve of northern Kenya.

“As a committee, we stand in solidarity with the TSC — that our children have a right to uninterrupted learning, even as we find solutions for the challenge,” she told journalists.

According to police reports, the terrorists targeted non-local teachers in the Friday morning attack that left one teacher with serious injuries.

In a statement at the weekend, Knut secretary-general Wilson Sossion said non-local teachers in Wajir, Garissa and Mandera, including Lamu and Tana River, have become a soft target for terrorists.

The union urged the government to establish a special unit of police to guard teachers and learners against such attacks.

The incident comes a week after suspected Al-Shabaab militia tried to raid a special forces camp in Kutulo but were repulsed by officers at the camp.