Al- Shabab attacks lead schools to close and teachers to flee

Deadly attacks by the alShabab extremist group targeting non- Muslim teachers in Kenya have caused hundr eds of schools near the Soma lib order to shut down as teachers flee for their lives.

Analysts say it is leaving local youths susceptible to recruitment to the al- Qaeda- linked group. Dozens of teachers have been sleeping in a union boardroom for weeks as they protest against the lack of security–and face tear gas from police.

At least 224 primary schools and 42 secondary schools in WajirCountyc an no longer function after non-local teachers fled. The exodus was caused by the al- Shabab attack on a primary school on 16 February in which two non- Muslim teachers were killed. Kenya’s Teachers Service Commission transferred 329 teachers elsewhere for their safety. Many others left on their own.

In all, 917 non- Muslim pri- mary school teachers have left the region. It is the largest- ever mass exodus of teachers from the region, observers say.

Analysts say the extremist group threatens gains in education in a region that until recently was the most marginalised in Kenya and has been described as a hot bed for recruitment for extremist groups, which oppose Western education. Children out of school become easy targets.

For al- Shabab the closure of schools will be seen as“a success ,” said Ab dull ahiBo ru Halakhe, an expert in countering violent extremism.

“Schools and education is one of t he antidotes against the narratives of the [ extremist] group. Thus, if you close the school, how else can you build a counter- narrative?” he asked.

Al- Shabab has carried out a wave of attacks in Kenya since 2011, calling it retribution for Kenya sending troops to Somalia to fight the extremists. Attacks include the April 2015 raid on Garissa Univer- sit y that left 147 people dead. Teachers near the Somali border have been targeted, including in a November 2014 attack on a bus in neighbouring Mandera County.

Some 120 non-Muslim teachers have left their posts in Mandera County due to the latest insecurity. The teachers have been sleeping in the Kenya National Union of Teachers boardroom for nearly two months and spend their days camped out at the offices of their employer, the Teachers S er vice Commission. Police routinely use tear gas on them as they protest and demand better protection from the extremist threat.

“We have asked the gove rn ment to transfer teachers where they feel safe,” said the union’s secretary- general, Wilson Sossion.

Kenya’ s Parliament has approved a government plan to hire 88,000 teachers to address a nationwide shortfall of more than 104,000.