The Parliamentary Committee on Education has scheduled a crisis meeting tomorrow to discuss progress in teachers’ pay talks to prevent a nationwide strike by teachers.
Committee Vice Chairperson Julius Melly said they will convene the meeting with teachers’ unions representatives to avert the impending teachers’ strike.
The meeting scheduled tomorrow will deliberate on contentious issues surrounding the teachers’ demands.
“We have called for an education committee meeting on Wednesday where we will dialogue with teachers’ unions secretary generals. As a parliamentary committee on education, our wish is that this strike be averted to avoid disruptions during this examination period,” he said. Mr Melly, who is also the Tinderet MP added they will be seeking to iron out differences between the unions and Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) to resolve differences that have caused a stalemate to meaningful dialogue.
Melly also said the Parliamentary Committee on Education had been in touch with TSC and unions’ secretary generals, with the aim to speed up meaningful dialogue between the two entities. “We have also been in touch with TSC and the secretary generals. We have asked them to sit and articulate pertinent issues affecting teachers, where we hope we will be able to agree,” he said.
Melly called on Salaries and Remuneration Commission Chair Sarah Serem to be drawn into the dialogue between teachers and their employer in efforts to iron out issues on salaries and allowances.
“I call on teachers’ unions and TSC to draw in Ms Serem and other government agencies,” he added.
STRIKING NATION
Pointing out negative implications of a strike during the examination school term, Melly called on the unions’ executive officials to dialogue with the intent to avoid the strike altogether. “It is unfortunate that this is the examination period. A strike will paralyse education and preparations for national examinations and the results can be disastrous for our students. The education committee calls on unions to dialogue with Government agencies and avoid this strike,” he said.
Melly added: “We risk being a striking nation. Constant strikes are no doubt affecting families countrywide.”
This comes days after Kenya National Union of Teachers, through its Secretary General Wilson Sossion, issued a warning it would call for a strike if TSC did not address its issues by tomorrow.
Last week, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Government to provide the union with a proposed counter-offer.
The teachers are demanding among other things a special allowance of 20 per cent for teachers stationed in cities like Kisumu and Mombasa, 50 per cent increment in house allowances and 50 per cent increment in basic salaries for teachers handling children with special needs.
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