Keep window of hope open at teachers’ salary talks

NAIROBI: By agreeing to open fresh negotiations over the teachers’ pay dispute, the unions and the Government have offered Kenyan parents an early Christmas gift. It gets even better that parties in the dispute have agreed to drop all court cases relating to the pay. In view of the turbulence experienced this year in the education sector, a new beginning for a problem that has dogged the sector for a long time is certainly welcome.

The Wednesday meeting between the Ministry of Education, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) should provide an opportunity for all parties to pursue a win-win solution to teachers’ pay and terms of engagement. It should mark a break with an ugly past where the path of strikes has been lined with confrontation and bitter exchanges.