Teachers lobby launches campaign to build a mental wellness center for educators

Kiambu County women teachers march from KEWOTA offices as the association starts a drive to raise funds for a wellness center. [George Njunge, Standard]

Funds collected from the walk, Opande said will be used to sponsor severe mental illness cases among educators and its members in the current mental wellness institutions.

"We need a place where these teachers can go. The male teachers have told us we need a place where we can cry, in private and with no victimisation. The female teachers are saying the bartering and Gender Based Violence is there," Opande said.

However, before the completion of the wellness center, Opande said that the association is exploring the possibility of sponsoring severe mental illness cases among educators in the already existing institutions.

"We need a wellness center that teachers call their own, there is one by TSC but when you listen to their stories, many say that the problem stems from the employer and thus are reluctant to seek help from the current wellness center," she said.

TSC's 2021/2022 annual report underscored the severity of the situation, revealing that one in every four teachers seeking outpatient services suffers from a mental health disorder.

Moses Nthurima, the Acting Secretary General of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers, criticized the employer TSC for larking in providing teachers with proper mental medical attention.

"As of Monday, May 7, all hospitals accredited under the Scheme had stopped providing services to teachers and their dependents. The majority of facilities no longer take the medical cover provided by employers forcing tutors to seek alternative means," Nthurima said.

Nthurima pointed fingers at the collapse of the Sh15 billion medical scheme for teachers and their dependents, leaving many without access to essential healthcare services.

"Coupled with the strike by doctors in public hospitals, teachers and their dependents have been deprived of medical attention unless they can pay for it from their own pockets," he said.

Nthurima further lamented that teachers continue to face financial burdens due to the lack of medical coverage. Some teachers and their dependents have even been detained in hospitals due to unpaid bills, further exacerbating the crisis.

"Some inpatient clients have been detained at hospitals after the facilities withdrew their services to teachers," citing a case of a Chavakali high school student who has been undergoing treatment at Nairobi West Hospital following a road accident last month.

"The boy's parents have been forced to hold fundraisings to offset his medical bills. And the funds so far collected are not sufficient to clear the bill so far accrued," he said.