KISUMU 13TH AUGUST, 2007
     
EDUCATION MINISTRY IS CENSURED OVER TEACHERS RECRUITMENT IN MIGORI

By Leo Odera Omolo

FOUR MPs from Migori district who last week issued a protest note to the government in which they asked, particularly the Ministry of Education to declare null and void the recent recruitment exercise of primary school teachers in the district were very right.

The government should not ignore their plea but should adequately pay urgent attention to the complaint as a genuine one. The MPs were very right in protesting against the alleged inclusion of outsiders in the recruitment process.

Migori has 238 slots allocated for the district which is currently facing an acute shortage of primary school teachers. The shortage is caused by deaths and retirement. There is a shortfall of close to 2000 teachers in Migori district alone.

But out of 250 candidates who were short listed for employment by the District Education Board only 10 per cent of the vacancies were given to the locals, 90 per cent were given to people from outside Migori District.

Although the DEO, Mr. George Wachira has vehemently denied any conspiracy during the interviews which he says were conducted in a highly transparent manner, it has been discovered that out of the 238 teachers recruited only 10 per cent were locals. The rest are aliens who go away to their home districts after securing the TSC employment numbers.

The past experience has revealed that employment in Migori district has been with a lot of intrigues. The district has always been used as a stepping pad for outsiders to secure employment in the teaching profession.

But soon after these outsiders had secured the vacant places, within six months the newly recruited teachers usually manouver themselves out of Migori by means of irregular transfers to their home of origin districts leaving the vacuum of teachers’ shortage in Migori to persist.

New recruits are usually sent to the Teacher Training Colleges. And of course at the end of their courses in various Teacher Training Colleges, the newly graduated teachers are always required to sign forms which are indicating that they would be willing to serve anywhere in The Republic of Kenya.

But the trend on the ground is painting a totally different picture. Most teachers come particularly from Gucha and Kisii districts and only come to Migori for recruitment but within only six months or so all had gone away on transfers to their home districts creating the shortage to continue persisting as if no new teachers were recruited.

This kind of exercise is allegedly being perpetrated by senior staff at the DEO’s office in Migori who hail from outside the district that are in the habit of inviting their relatives from home to come and apply for teaching posts only as a stepping stone to secure the TSC numbers for eventual transfers to their home districts.

This is what perhaps prompted the four MPs to lodge their protest with the Government and called for the nullification of the exercise.

It would seem that the government may have now reversed the original results and subsequently awarded 90 per cent vacancies to the locals.

The MPs were Herman Odhiambo Omamba (Uriri), George Mbogo Ochillo Ayacko (Rongo) Ocholla Ogur (Nyatike) and Charles Oyugi Owino (Jalikowa Migori)

These four MPs last week held a lengthy discussion with members of the DEB. During that time, they went through the long list of 250 short listed candidates for the teaching posts. They discovered the loopholes and detected as close to 90 per cent were people from outside Migori district.

But while the MPs, DEB members and Education Officers were brain storming inside closed offices more than 200 expectant applicants had pitched tent outside Migori DC’s office awaiting the outcome of the crucial issue.

Migori was allocated 238 vacancies but over 90 per cent in the original list of applicants were discovered to have come from the outside districts prompting angry reactions from the MPs and local leaders.

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
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