Ijara Member of Parliament Abdi Ali has said that he will offer full scholarships for all students in the constituency who will enroll for teaching courses.
Speaking yesterday during the celebrations of the Jamhuri day in Masalani town, the MP urged the young people in the area to take advantage of the scholarships so that they can help in bridging the teacher shortage gap in the county.
“I have seen the way our students are performing because of lack of teachers. As your leader, I have a responsibility to bring solutions to our problems and so I am announcing full scholarship for every form four leaver who will enroll in a teaching course,” Ali said.
Area county commissioner Boaz Cherutich asked for concerted efforts from the local political leaders so that the young people can enroll in technical colleges and get the much needed skills in building the economy.
“There is technical college here in Ijara which has been well equipped by the government. We are asking all our leaders here to help us mobilize and have students enroll in the college and expand their knowledge,” Cherutich said.
“Just the other day we were looking to employ technical people in phase two of the LAPSSET project, we did not get the electricians, masons, and drivers locally because we have not given our young people an opportunity to study these courses,” he added.
The Teachers service commission has announced recruitment of 35,550 teachers in January next year.
Out of these, 9,000 teachers will be posted on permanent and pensionable terms of service in secondary and primary schools, while 21,550 intern teachers will be posted in junior secondary schools and 4,000 in primary schools.
Garissa County, which according to the Teachers Service Commission, has a teacher shortage of 913 in primary schools and 651 in secondary schools, will get 56 permanent and pensionable slots and additional 134 slots for interns.
By Mohamed Dahir and Erick Kyalo
