In 2015 attackers ambushed passengers on a bus and killed 28 of them, majority of them teachers headed home/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 18 – The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the The Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers have called on the government to do more to ensure the safety of teachers posted to terror hotspots.
This follows the killing of three teachers last week, following a dawn attack by suspected Al Shabaab militants at Qarsa Primary School in Wajir County.
In a statement, KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion said a special police unit should be charged with the responsibility of providing security to school property.” A teacher like any other professional has a right to enjoy peace, professional freedom and protection. It is the duty of the government to offer the protection.”
“The murder of two teachers and a wife of one of the victims at Qarsa Primary School in Wajir on Friday morning by Al-Shabaab militants and the closure of schools in North Rift due to bandit attacks confirms the need to reform the management of teachers in these areas,” he stated.
The KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori on his part called for the setting up of police posts within schools vulnerable to attack.
“In 2015 when Al Shabaab massacred non-local teachers in Mandera, the government promised to guarantee the security of learners and teachers, including school properties in all bandit/terrorist prone areas.
“This has never happened, our members and their families continue to suffer with the government failing to make good on their promise to protect teachers from terror attacks in these hotspots.”
READ: Teachers from Mandera stage protest to Parliament
According to police, those killed in the Wajir attack were non-locals residing within the school’s compound.
The threat of terror remains in the country, with Northern Kenya being the worst hit because of its proximity to war-torn Somalia.
About The Author
