Teachers in Hardship Zones: Fighting to Keep Education Alive in Kenya and Beyond
Pupils learn under a tree in a TSC-mapped hardship area in Kenya.
Teaching on the Edge and the Threat to Kenya’s Future
In Kenya, teachers stationed in arid, remote, and conflict-prone regions often do so under some of the most difficult conditions imaginable. Yet, this commitment is now under threat. The government’s proposed degazettement of hardship areas, which would see thousands of teachers lose their hardship allowances, has triggered a fierce response led by one of the country’s most vocal sector-specific unions: KETHAWA.
At stake are the livelihoods of over 120,000 teachers and the futures of learners in marginalised areas. This is not just about allowances it’s about dignity, education equity, and whether rural Kenya will be left behind.
KETHAWA: A Grassroots Defence of Teachers in the Margins
The Kenya Teachers in Hardship and Arid Areas Welfare Association (KETHAWA) was established to represent the unique interests of teachers working in Kenya’s most underserved and volatile regions: areas affected by extreme poverty, insecurity, and environmental hardship. Unlike broader unions like KNUT or KUPPET, KETHAWA’s sole focus is amplifying the voices of hardship-area educators, many of whom face threats that urban-based policymakers never encounter.
Over the years, KETHAWA has emerged as a critical advocate on issues of hardship allowance, occupational safety, equitable deployment, and rural school infrastructure. Their current petition to the Employment and Labour Relations Court reflects this mission: to defend the survival and dignity of teachers who educate under the hardest conditions.
According to KETHAWA National Secretary Wangonya Wangenye, the government’s plan to reclassify hardship zones without adequate consultation or evidence amounts to a betrayal of public service workers and the communities they serve.
“Teachers in hardship zones don’t just face long commutes. They face gunfire, floods, banditry, hunger, and medical emergencies with no support,” he stated during the court filing in March 2025.
Declassified and Discarded: What Degazettement Means
The proposed implementation of a 2019 report by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) seeks to delist over 44 sub-counties across 35 counties from the hardship register. This would render teachers in areas like Taita Taveta, Kilifi, Bungoma, Baringo, West Pokot, and parts of North Eastern ineligible for hardship allowances.
But what defines “hardship”? For teachers in these regions, it’s:
Walking dozens of kilometres to class due to lack of transport or roads;
Living without electricity, water, or healthcare;
Facing security threats from cattle rustlers or terrorist groups;
Teaching in collapsing classrooms with no desks or books;
Being separated from family with limited communication infrastructure.
The hardship allowance currently capped between 6–30% of basic pay makes this work tenable. For many, it determines whether they stay or seek transfers to safer urban zones.
Unions Respond: KETHAWA, KNUT and KUPPET Speak in One Voice
While KETHAWA leads the legal resistance, national unions have also joined the fight.
KUPPET (Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers) has proposed tiered hardship allowances of up to 60%, particularly for zones affected by terrorism or conflict.
KNUT (Kenya National Union of Teachers) has warned that degazettement would exacerbate teacher shortages and violate the principles of equal opportunity enshrined in the Constitution.
Together, these unions argue that the policy shift is not only unconstitutional but could destabilise the entire education system in marginalised counties.
Continental Parallels: Rural Teachers in Crisis Across Africa
The Kenyan situation mirrors struggles across the continent:
In Ethiopia, teachers deployed to conflict-prone zones in Tigray and Oromia have fled due to threats, leaving thousands of learners without instruction.
In Nigeria, educators in Borno and Zamfara routinely face abductions, unpaid wages, and unsafe work environments.
In South Africa, educators in Eastern Cape and Limpopo face chronic understaffing, lack of housing, and minimal government support.
A Rwandan Ministry of Education study found high teacher turnover in rural schools, linked directly to poor incentives and social isolation.
What is consistent is that educators in hardship areas are the backbone of rural education but they are treated as expendable.
Conclusion: If Teachers Leave, Communities Collapse
The attempt to strip hardship teachers of their allowances is not fiscal reform it is structural neglect. And it risks triggering an exodus that could cripple rural education for years to come.
KETHAWA’s legal case is more than a courtroom battle. It is a moral call to value those who serve in Kenya’s most forgotten places. The union’s focused advocacy is a model for how sector-specific organising can defend vulnerable workers where broad-based unions might falter.
The future of education in hardship areas and by extension, the future of these communities depends on whether Kenya chooses to protect its teachers or abandon them to struggle alone.
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