DPP Noordin Haji says TSC should be responsible for teachers security in volatile areas

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has threatened to charge Teachers Service Commission (TSC) officials over what he explained as neglect of their duty.

Speaking during a TSC stakeholders forum in Garissa County, DPP Haji accused the Commission of failing to adequately address the issue of teachers' safety warning that further neglect could soon blow up into a national crisis.

Addressing himself to the plight of teachers working in volatile areas of the country, DPP Haji stated that TSC had the mandate to put in place policies that ensure security for the teachers stationed in such areas.

He added that a continued sluggishness on TSC's part may be the reason behind shortage of teachers in the areas.

“If you're not going to address the issues of the teachers, we will become a burden for the whole of Kenya and this problem will come to your own doorstep,” Haji remarked.

Haji said it was unfair for an entire school to have one teacher yet all children were entitled to an education adding that the commission was subject to prosecution for denying Kenyan children their right.

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Dr Nancy Macharia Pulse Live Kenya

“We cannot afford to have one teacher in one school, that is just not acceptable in today's Kenya. Under Section 7 of the Children Act, I can charge the whole commission for refusing to give education to Kenyans and to the children,” the DPP stated.

Haji called for the establishment of a department within the Commission to handle and find long-lasting solutions to problems facing teachers in bandit-prone and volatile areas.

"And it's not only about the three counties in the North-Eastern Region, there's Samburu, Turkana, and other ASAL counties where there's cattle rustling and banditry. We must have a department that will look into it, conduct research with accurate statistics and data so that we find real solutions," the DPP advised.

His remarks come just days after bandit attacks at the Kerio Valley left students injured and a teacher dead in what has become a crisis even as candidates gear up for national examinations.

A teachers' union in Baringo County has called for the beefing up of security in the region as learners prepare to take national examinations scheduled to start on March 7.

Areas in counties such Garissa, Wajir, Samburu, Mandera and parts of regions in the Rift Valley have, for a long time, been hit by insecurity with learning institutions among the targets of the attacks.