Alarm over teachers shortage in crowded Maasai Mau schools
Leaders in Narok are calling on the government to hire more teachers in four schools at the border of Maasai Mau Forest in Narok South sub-county which recorded high enrolment this year.
Narok South Deputy County Commissioner, Felix Kisaru, said the four primary schools—Triangle, Olkaria, Enekishomi and Oloshushwa—received hundreds of new students this year.
This is after the government closed 15 schools at the Maasai Mau forest where 3,300 families were successfully evicted last year.
Ololulunga MCA Jefferson Langat raised concerns about the pupil/teacher ratio and asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to post more tutors to the affected schools.
“Some classrooms are holding up to 100 pupils against one teacher. We plead for extra teachers as the parents do not have the capacity to employ teachers under Parents and Teachers (PA) association,” he said.
“We have used part of the materials from the closed schools in the forest land to expand these other ones where the learners have flocked,” said Kisaru.
He asked residents to ensure all the school going children are enrolled, asking them to take advantage of the free primary education programme.
Speaking from his office yesterday, Kisaru said they have directed chiefs to take data of all pupils who sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam, and ensure they are enrolled in secondary school to ensure the 100 per cent transition.
The administrator reiterated that there would be no excuses for not joining Form One or technical training centres, adding that parents who will hold their children at home will be punished.
The second phase of the Mau evictions saw 100 per cent of the families previously living in forestland move with 35,000 acres of land being recovered.
Second phase
The second phase affected Nkoben, Ilmotiok and Ololung`a areas where over 3,300 families living in the Maasai Mau moved out peacefully and voluntarily. Other areas affected include; Enokishomi, Enoosokon, Nkaroni and Sisia.
During the first phase of the eviction in July 2018, about 7,700 people were evicted from the forestland which saw over 12,000 acres of the forest reclaimed. -KNA
