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Details of what the DP Ruto and NEP leaders agreed over education in the region

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By: Abdikadir Okash

NAIROBI—Details are emerging of what the Deputy President William Ruto and leaders of the three counties in the former North Eastern Kenya agreed on Thursday after they called on him at his Karen office following region-wide demonstration over the raising education crisis in the region.

The procession was orgernised by civil society groups in the region after the mass transfer of teachers from the area to other parts of the country. The teachers demanded the transfer following the attack on a Nairobi-bound bus last December.

Ruto, while speaking in Nairobi Thursday when he attended a fundraiser for Al Fatah Islamic Institute, he underscored the need to save the future of the children in the region, saying it was the government’s responsibility to secure their future. “Every child in Kenya has the right to get education even with the problem we are facing now,” he said.

He noted that as an affirmative action, the government would train 800 teachers from the region in a period of three years. “We cannot have doctors, engineers, lawyers or any other professional groups if we don’t have primary teachers,” he noted.

On their side, political leaders from the region suggested a raft of recommendations, among them the need to administer national examinations to area student “that takes into consideration the circumstances of learning environment in the region.”

Students of the three counties, save for few in the big towns, have not had a smooth learning sessions since January when the teachers started camping at the Teachers Service Commission headquarters in Nairobi.

The area leaders similarly called on the government to allocate certain funds for the recruitment of untrained teachers to cover the in-service cost of their training over holidays. They also suggested the recruitment of trained teachers regardless of their year of graduation and age including those who fall within the grade levels of C- and C for their teaching subjects. “The ministry of internal security must ensure the re-opening of all higher learning centres as well as provision of security,” the leaders demanded.

The government buckled under the pressure following a procession that took place in Wajir, Mandera and Garissa. The participants presented demands and recommendations to the County Commissioners that represent the President at the county level. The campaign did not end on the streets, but continued well onto the social media platforms.

On Twitter, the hashtag #EndNEPEducationCrsisiNow was the most trending topic for more than two hours as users engaged each other and their leaders on the neglect and the continued marginalisation of the region.

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