Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) in a new push, has called on the government to reopen teachers’ salary review negotiations that were paused last year due to Covid-19 impact on the economy.
“Having considered all factors affecting the terms and conditions of service for teachers, the ADC demands the immediate re-opening of talks for the salaries review that was put on hold due to poor economic performance occasioned by the Covid-19 Pandemic?” Said Misorri, the secretary general of Kuppet.
Misori noted that Kuppet has been lenient and reasonable and the time to push for new terms should not wait for another year. He was speaking during the Annual Delegates Conference (ADC) on the state of the teaching profession and education sector in general.
”Enough is enough, we have been lenient and reasonable enough. However, we expect TSC to respect our views and initiate the talks. We want to make it very clear; teachers are not beggars, they are professionals. They know when to talk and what to say. We know this is the right time to engage in such a matter without the interference of school calendars,” he said.
“There were significant disparities in the compensation and career progression between the institutional administrators and classroom teachers in the teaching profession as the job evaluation results for 2016/2017 did not adequately cater for the remuneration of classroom teachers. This might be attributed to poor development of job descriptions in 2016,” reads the report. Below is the proposed pay for all teachers in different levels.
The Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani allocated an additional Sh14.9 billion to TSC, whose budget has risen to Sh296.6 billion from Sh281.7 billion this year. TSC will receive additional Sh15 billion for the 2022 – 2023 financial year, with sources saying that additional money is for a pay rise and recruitment of new teachers. The treasury has allocated an extra Sh70.8 billion to ministries for recurrent expenditure, including the annual pay rise. The budget is subject to parliamentary approval.