Kuppet has asked the government to provide guns and sufficient security training for teachers deployed in volatile regions.
The union says as some teachers have been killed by gunmen in volatile areas in North-Eastern and Coast regions.
Addressing the media on Thursday, acting Secretary General Moses Nthurima said arming teachers with guns will not only scare away attackers but will also give the tutors confidence.
“In the pockets of insecurity, teachers must be trained and provided with guns. You cannot confront a gun man with chalk. When we take a teacher to insecurity-prone areas, that teacher will constantly live in fear,” he said.
“But if the gun is hanging on his back even bandits will know that a teacher is a no-go zone and they will take a second thought before making any mistake.”
On Wednesday, the body of a high school teacher who apparently drowned five months ago was found without the head and limbs.
John Murunga, a teacher at Nalutili Secondary School in Bungoma county, was found in River Kipkaren in Lugari, Kakamega county.
In Kapedo, hundreds of families have fled, schools and businesses have closed during the fierce security operation to flush out criminals on the border of Baringo and Turkana.
More than 2,000 learners are out of class, many are in makeshift IDP camps, after more than 15 schools where shut down in volatile areas of Kapedo and Tiaty sub-county, Baringo.
At least 10,000 people have been displaced.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said the attacks are carried out by organized criminal gangs, not ‘ordinary’ bandits as in the past.
The schools closed indefinitely in Tiaty are Katuwit, Chepilat, Lemuyek, Chesirimion, Ng’inyang, Chemolingot, Cheptunoiyo, Chemeril, Naudo, Nalegat, Chesirimnyon, Kositei, Komolion and Chepkalacha primary schools.
Others are Kapedo Mixed Secondary, Kapedo and Silale primary schools – the area has been locked off. The Marigat-Chemolingot-Kapedo road is blocked to civilian traffic
The situation worsened after the abduction and killing of senior Teachers Service Commission officer Paul Kosgei last week.
He was among the five people whose bodies, riddled with bullets, were found dumped in the Arabal bush, Baringo South subcounty. Other victims included a primary school head teacher and Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission official.