Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers renews attack on Knut over pay stand-off

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has accused its rival Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) of betraying it in the ongoing salary negotiations with the Government.

At the same time, the Senate has backed demands by teachers for improved salaries and allowances.

According to the Senate Committee on Education, the teachers deserve better perks to motivate them and improve the standards of education in the country.

The committee’s chair Daniel Karaba was optimistic that the ongoing talks between the government and teachers would yield results.

The senator admitted that if unresolved, the strike could affect the national exams that kick off tomorrow.

“The committee supports demands by the teachers as this is a very important profession in the education sector,” said the Kirinyaga senator.

The senator was addressing the Press at a Naivasha hotel on Friday during a stakeholders' forum for the Early Childhood Education Bill that is currently before Senate.

Yesterday, Kuppet National Chairperson Milemba Omboko claimed Knut has softened its stand on the push for new perks for teachers.

“We said that this time we should be together to fight for our teachers’ rights, but my brother Wilson Sossion (Knut Secretary) has started to lose the tempo that he had before," said Mr Milemba yesterday.

Speaking at Diani Babla Secondary School during this year’s Kwale County Secondary School Teachers Annual General Meeting, Milemba urged Knut to stop what he termed as theatrics on the teachers’ pay.

He, however, noted that Kuppet’s push for a pay increment and improved terms of service was still on.

“On Monday, we are going to meet the Salaries and Renumeration Commission to know the obstacles towards salary increment and allowances, “ he claimed.

Mr Milemba said the National Governing Council is also set to meet on Wednesday to make a final decision on the pay stand-off. “If the Government will not have behaved by then, we will issue a seven-day strike notice, “ he added.

According to him, previous meetings with Teachers Service Commission and the Education ministry failed to end the pay row as the Government had not demonstrated commitment to resolve it.