KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion demands fair pay rise for teachers in October deal

Head teachers follow proceedings during the Kenya Primary Schools Head Teachers Association conference at Sheikh Zayed Hall in Mombasa. KNUT has told the Government to offer tutors an acceptable pay rise in October to forestall a conflict. (PHOTO: OMONDI ONYANGO/ STANDARD)

The Kenya National Teachers’ Union (KNUT) has told the Government to offer tutors an acceptable pay rise in October to forestall a conflict.

KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion warned that teachers would not compromise on a pending Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) due for signing in October.

Mr Sossion warned that he would walk away from CBA negotiations if TSC delayed a deal or tried to impose a bad deal on teachers. “I still have the whistle to blow if the timelines are not met,” said Sossion.

He also warned TSC not to use performance contracts for teachers as a tool to determine their promotion.

Speaking amid cheers at the official opening of the 12th annual conference for the Kenya Primary School Head Teachers Association (Kepsha) in Mombasa yesterday, Sossion said he would not append his signature to the CBA document unless he was assured that the figures being tabled by the Government were reasonable.

He also declared that teachers would reject any new policies on administration of national examinations imposed unilaterally.

“You have sent a very clear message. While we support reforms in the education sector, let it be known that consultations remain key,” he said and added that no head teacher should be compelled to pick examination papers from designated strongrooms as proposed by the examinations body before amendment to the Kenya National Examination Council Act.

On Tuesday, head teachers rejected a proposal that compels them to pick exam papers and take responsibility for any leaks.

Sossion further accused the Government of having little regard for teachers while awarding billions of shillings to mega projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway and the school laptop programme.

“It would have made sense to empower teachers with ICT knowledge first and give them laptops instead of giving them to Standard One pupils who cannot read or write,” he said.

Lagging behind

Sossion said the school capitation programme was always lagging behind and interfering with proper implementation of free primary education.

He said that compared to many poorer African nations, the Kenya Government had not demonstrated seriousness in employing more teachers.

“In Tanzania, for example, the government is employing 26,000 teachers to fill the gap while in Africa’s most populous nation of Nigeria, a total of 500,000 teachers are being put on the government payroll,” he said.

While launching a report titled ‘Education Business: A Threat to Public Education’, the Knut official called on the Ministry of Education to fight all forms that tend to privatise public education.

“Let us teach everyone to respect and support public education, which is the cornerstone of our education system,” he said.

Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang urged stakeholders in the education sector to pull together and support ventures aimed at streamlining education.

“We have education reforms currently ongoing and it is our hope and desire as a government for all to come on board with input for a better and more likeable curriculum,” the PS said.

Dr Kipsang announced that corporal punishment would not be re-introduced even as the Government sought to arrest runaway indiscipline that has seen a number of schools set ablaze