GARISSA– Mandera South Member of Parliament Abdul Haro popularly know as “Karo” has taken a bold step to sponsor towards alleviating the shortage of secondary school teachers by providing scholarships to 113 Teacher Education students at Garissa University.

The move by the MP comes at a time northern Kenya region is facing shortage of teachers due to threats of Al Shabab that left non- local teachers to fly the region.

The MP spearheaded the initiative, by presenting a cheque amounting to Kes 8,873,120 to the Chair of the University Council and the Vice-Chancellor of Garissa University.

Speaking to the media, MP Abdul Haro (Kore) said the region northern Kenya has faced teachers crisis when non-local teachers abandoned the region enmasse citing security challenges in the region.

“When I came to leadership, I had this in mind that the non- local teachers teaching in Mandera, Wajir and Garissa is not going to be sustained” said Kore.

“Education is the great equalizer of our time. It gives hope to the hopeless and creates chances for those without…”
— Kofi Annan

Today, the @CdfmanderaSouth has taken these words into real-life by launching the first batch of Garissa University scholarship bursary for 113… pic.twitter.com/EKl5J581UP

— Hon. Abdul Haro (Kore)- MP, Mandera South (@abduhar) February 1, 2024

Haro said that he encourages students who finish high school to pursue teaching as a course in a bid to bridge the widening gap between students and teachers in the northern region and especially his constituency of Mandera South.

He decried that 124 teachers declined to report back to school last term, a critical time for students preparing for the various levels of the National Examination.

Haro pledged that he would use his office to fully sponsor willing to take up teaching courses as part of his efforts to address the perennial teachers crisis and ameliorate the performance of the students in his area.

Hundreds of teachers from Northern Kenya have left the region citing insecurity after teachers traveling in a bus were targeted in 2014 by suspected Al-Shabaab militants killing 28 tutors on the spot while heading back to Nairobi for December holidays.

In beginning of 2020, the region faced another teachers crisis after the teachers service commission transferred due to insecurity after three teachers were killed by Al-Shabab insurgents during a night raid.

Northern Kenya MPs have echoed calls for a home grown solutions to address the teachers shortage.