Knut chief Sossion rejects bid to arm teachers in NEP
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has opposed proposals by a rival union to have teachers working in terror-prone areas armed.
Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion said yesterday the proposal by Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) is akin to militarising the teaching profession.
He accused the Education ministry leadership and security stakeholders of failing to find a lasting solution to insecurity in the northeastern region.
He claimed Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has refused to call for a meeting with the teachers’ union to discuss the issue.
“Union officials should also desist from making pedestrian statements which are meant to please the employer,” said Sossion.
“The moment teachers start to walk to classrooms with guns will mark the end of learning in the northern region,” he told a press conference at Parliament Buildings.
His remarks come amid reports of teachers fleeing the volatile region en masse in the wake of increased attacks by the al-Shabaab militants.
On Wednesday, Kuppet secretary general Akelo Misori asked the government to arm teachers with guns before posting them to terror-prone regions. He asked the Interior ministry to take the teachers’ security issue seriously.
“Classrooms are places of inculcating peace in the minds of the learners and not to display arms,” said Sossion.
