By ALLAN KISIA

Teachers have warned of an impending nationwide strike should the Government continue to disregard their demands.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Monday said teachers would down their tools following failure by the Ministry of Finance to consider their proposals in the budgetary estimates presented to Parliament.

Knut Secretary General Okuta Osiany said teachers were shocked and disappointed at the manner in which their proposals were treated in the 2012-2013 proposed Budget.

“The making of the Budget is through public participation. The end result was in total disregard of what teachers, through Knut, proposed,” stated Osiany.

The secretary general, however, fell short of naming the date teachers will down their tools.
“The National Executive Council is set to meet before the date can be made known,” he added.

He said they looked at the Budget carefully and discovered the Government only plans to fulfil a small part of what they had proposed.

“The Government wants to employ 10,000 teachers while we requested for 40,000 teachers,” he said and added: “We gave the Government up to July 1 but we have not received any communication. We were asked to prepare our own budget, which we presented to the Parliamentary Committee on Budget.”

Tough times
He asked teachers to be ready to down tools as they prepare to issue the Government with a strike notice.

“I am asking teachers to spend the little money they earned this month well because tough times lie ahead,” he said.

Speaking at a Press conference at his Nairobi offices, Osiany noted that Knut was still open for negotiations with the Government.

In their presentation to the Parliamentary Committee on Budget in May, teachers asked for a 300 per cent salary increment and immediate implementation of the 1997 Legal Notice 534 in regard to the allowances payable to teachers.

They also demanded a responsibility allowance at 50 per cent, 40 per cent and 30 per cent for principals and head teachers, deputies, senior teachers and heads of departments respectively.

They further asked the Government to employ 23,000 Early Childhood Education teachers. 

Knut Chairman Wilson Sossion lamented that teachers continue to suffer even when there is money. “Out of the Sh1.4 trillion Budget, teachers got a meagre increment of Sh3 billion in allocation,” he said.

He said the country was faced with a shortage of 80,000 teachers for public primary and secondary schools.