Nandi: Karabe Gold Mine Company Builds KSh 20m Houses For Tinderet Teachers

• For decades, teachers posted to work in Tinderet schools used to operate from Nandi Hills and Kisumu towns some 40km away and arrived in school exhausted
• Many teachers once transferred to work in the Tinderet sub-county reported to schools and they then started seeking transfers because of housing difficulties
• But since 2022, the housing crisis has been solved after the Karebe Gold Mine Company spent over KSh 20 million in constructing five houses in 15 schools

Nandi - The housing crisis which for decades forced teachers to decline working in public schools in Tinderet, Nandi county has been solved after a gold mine company spent over KSh 20 million to construct new houses for teachers who previously walked many kilometers to the learning institutions.

For decades, teachers posted to work in the schools used to operate from Nandi Hills and Kisumu towns some 40km away and arrived in school exhausted.

Many teachers once transferred to work in the Tinderet sub-county reported to schools and they then started seeking transfers because of housing difficulties along the Nandi South escapement.

But since 2022, the housing crisis has been solved after the Karebe Gold Mine Company spent over KSh 20 million in constructing five houses in 15 schools, and teachers who considered working in the Chemase ward as a punitive measure are now happy and staying around their work stations.

Why most Tinderet teachers previously suffered

TUKO.co.ke established hundreds of teachers who have been flocking to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) offices in Nandi county and to other sub-counties seeking to be transferred to the once-neglected region after the company established houses in the local schools.

Most of the teachers who suffered most after they got delocalised in the former president Uhuru Kenyatta's regime due to the housing difficulties are now operating from within schools that had no houses for them for many years of existence.

According to the parents, they have lauded the decision by the company to use its resources to fund the construction of the teacher's houses and this could boost education standards in schools that have been posting low grades in national exams.

The situation has changed since 2022, when the company established five houses in the schools in Chemelil ward and connected both power and water into the houses.

The company administration manager Albert Kiplimo told TUKO.co.ke that the company spent more than KSh 20 million to build houses in about 15 local schools where teachers previously spent four hours traveling before arriving at their workstations.

How Karebe is improving academic standards in Tinderet

Kiplimo noted that for the company to improve academic standards in local schools, Karebe gave out a bursary scheme for 200 needy students whose parents could not pay school fees.

“Each year Karebe is giving out bursaries to more than 200 students to support the local community through our local Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," said Kiplimo

The manager narrated how long distances affected students and teachers who arrived at school exhausted but now things have changed from worse to better.

The local community elders noted the new houses were constructed by the company.

Teachers used to stay in neglected and unsuitable houses from where both students and teachers were served food in the temporary structures.

Parents led by Henry Muge singled out some of the schools such as the Chemase Secondary School where teachers had been staying in old houses that were built 20 years ago and also St Paul Chemalal Secondary School where teachers used to live in muddy houses.

A spot check by TUKO.co.ke established that at the Chemalal Secondary School, students are served food from the old structure which the teachers referred to as an old dining hall built of mud.

“Teachers at the school had been operating from outside but recently moved into the school after the Karebe Gold Mining Company had built five houses for them,” said the school Principal Jane Tanui.

Why St Paul Kipsem Primary School is still in a sad state

But when TUKO.co.ke visited Chemase and Chemalal Secondary Schools, the school principals Martin Masika and Tanui noted teachers faced a housing crisis adding the gold mine company had built five teachers' houses in more than 20 schools.

Sadly at the nearby St Paul Kipsem Primary School, teachers have turned trees at the school compound into offices and whenever it rains, they rush into classrooms which they share out with pupils.

Paul Bitok, the school headteacher, explained that for years, teachers at the school operates under trees as their official offices.

Bitok said his members of staff are looking forward to occupying the new office which the gold company is building for them before the rains resume.

“Teachers at this school have turned these trees into their offices but when it rains we are forced to rush into classrooms which we share with the learners and they are happy soon they could move to occupy a new office which the company is currently building for teachers,” noted Bitok.

A new dawn for Chemase Secondary School teachers

Meanwhile, at Chemase Secondary School, TUKO.co.ke establishedthat theteachers are a happy lot after moving into the newly-constructed houses.

“Students who had dropped out of school have resumed studies because of financial support from the company through school fees. Now, we urge Chemelil Sugar Company to support education for students from poor families," Masika noted.

At Kapsigilai Secondary School, the school Principal Lydia Oidi noted that all the teachers now stay at the school compound after the company constructed houses for them and connected the houses with electricity and piped water.

She further stated the company also provided sanitary pads to girls adding the school is currently planning to construct a dining hall to serve students and teachers.

The majority of the teachers explained to TUKO.co.ke how they are forced to share houses since there are no rental houses near the local schools, but the situation had now changed for the better after the gold mine company came to their rescue.

Why William Ruto is transforming Kenya's education system

In a related story, TUKO.co.ke earlier reported that in the run-up to the hotly-contested August 9, 2022 General Election, William Ruto then Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate pledged radical reforms aimed at revolutionising the education sector if he secured victory.

On Tuesday, August 1, 2023, the head of state announced the country’s education system will undergo immediate changes.

This followed the launch of the report of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform at State House Nairobi.

He said the new system will inculcate innovation and facilitate learners to explore their talents.

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