TSC, Knut condemn attack on teachers

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has strongly condemned the heinous killing of its teachers stationed at Kamuthe Primary School in Garissa by suspected Al-Shabaab militants. At the same time the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) threatened to mobilise tutors to leave insecure schools and regions.

TSC assured teachers across the country that it was working closely with security agencies to maintain safety and restore normalcy to the school and its environs.

Three teachers -- Caleb Mutua, Samuel Mutua and Titus Sasieka Mushindi -- were killed in a pre-dawn terror attack on Monday that police say was targeted at a Safaricom communications mast and a police camp in the area.

“We wish to extend our condolences to the families, friends, pupils and colleagues of the three teachers and wish quick recovery to those injured in the attack,” the Commission said in a statement last evening.

The teachers' lobby, Knut, asked the Ministry of Education to convene an urgent meeting to discuss teachers' security following the attack.

“The Ministry must discuss the security of teachers and students in our institutions and assure Kenyans that schools are safe for learning ...We have in the past been assured of protection and action but the killings have continued,” Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said in a press briefing yesterday.

Knut said that if the Ministry does not deal with the issue, it will urge teachers who feel insecure to promptly vacate their stations of duty.

The militants attacked Kamuthe School which is located in Fafi Sub-County and a nearby AP Camp around 1 am.

Three teachers died while a fourth one was injured and taken to Garissa Referral Hospital.

In 2018, hundreds of teachers fled Wajir County schools after an attack left several tutors dead, leaving schools unable to function.

It was the largest-ever mass exodus of teachers from the northern region.