Hiring locals will solve region's teacher crisis

In early 1992, a small meeting was convened between my grandfather, my father and I. My grandfather had realised that I, his trusted herdsboy, did not know how to count cows. It was resolved that I would be taken to school for a while to master the art of counting — it took me 27 years to bachelor, master, and doctor the art of counting cows.

If I were in northern Kenya, a mix of Teachers Service Commission (TSC) adamancy, ethnic xenophobia, ethnic profiling, religious intolerance, and shadows of racism would have bound my dream of ever writing this column. The truth will set us free, and I beg to write hard truth here.

Bitter enmity is wrecking northern Kenya relations with non-local teachers. Ironically, some local leaders in Mandera, Garissa, Marsabit and Wajir counties reportedly conspire against non-locals. That is not my opinion, though. It was the verdict of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) after they listened to testimonies of more than 1,050 teachers from the region in 2014-2015.

The hostility

The teachers complained about the hostility of some locals who they said openly referred to them as kafirs (unholy), adhome (slaves) and used other dehumanising terms on them. This ‘othering’, according to the Knut report, was meted out by some students, parents, local leaders, headteachers and even county education officers. If this report is true, clearly it is not only Al Shabaab fanatics who are against non-local teachers.

Since then, Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion has insisted that non-local teachers must be withdrawn from this region. Additionally, the local leadership from Mandera, Garissa, Marsabit and Wajir counties has urged the TSC to allow untrained local teachers in their schools. This is sound advice. 

Education CS George Magoha recently wailed that his ministry has no power over teachers. This is unfortunately true. In 2018, then Education CS Amina Mohamed proposed the lowering of entry grades to teacher training colleges for candidates from North Eastern from a C-plain to a D-plus. The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) challenged the proposal, faulting the ministry’s legitimacy on the matter.

Early this year, Kuppet proposed that TSC hires all qualified teachers from northern regions and transfer northern frontier teachers working elsewhere to the north. This has always been Knut's proposal. Why didn’t TSC act earlier? Early this year, TSC commendably transferred over 3,000 non-local teachers from northern regions. The move will empower north regions’ local communities to craft solutions to their problems.

Truly, Al Shabaab militants have taken advantage of the situation to profile Kenyans during their terror attacks. The peak of the tutors’ terror was in November 2014 when 28 teachers were massacred in Mandera. Several other attacks have claimed the lives of more than 20 additional teachers, sparking the sporadic exit of tutors from the region. But now TSC has stood its ground to hold teachers' right to life supreme.

Sadly, TSC and the Education ministry have for the last decade implemented erratic policies that disfavour teacher training in regions gazetted as marginalised, such as Garissa, Mandera, Wajir and Marsabit.

This makes the local populace think that the government is doing so to deny them a chance to qualify for jobs in their localities. It makes them suspicious when ‘foreign’ teachers from ‘down Kenya’ are deployed in their localities.

Isolate and defeat

To eliminate this mentality, more youth from these regions should be sent to training colleges so that they can become teachers. Such teachers should be sent to local schools and take the place of the non-local teachers who fear working the region. 

Empowering the local population and giving them a chance to govern their affairs will make it easy to isolate and defeat Al Shabaab. There is no doubt that the terrorist group enjoys the support of some wayward locals.

Of course, these are in the group that views non-local teachers as enemies. And it is not hard to see why they support Al Shabaab. During the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which went by the moniker ‘Operation Barbarossa’, Winston Churchill told his secretary that his enemy’s enemy is his friend.

So, enemies can gang up against a common enemy. If some members of the local community in northern Kenya perceive non-local teachers as enemies, they will admire Al Shabaab terrorising their enemy.

Until Al Shabaab is routed and the few misguided elements in this region who view non-local teachers as enemies, it will not be safe for these teachers to work there. Sad, but that is the reality.

Dr Ndonye is head of Mass Communication Department, Kabarak University.