By James Anyanzwa

Teachers accuse State of failing to honour an agreement made in 1997 that entitled them to various allowances

Teachers have put the Government on notice for failing to pay them their allowances, warning a new wave of nationwide strikes is in the offing.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) yesterday presented their grievances to the Parliamentary Budget Committee and accused the  State of procrastinating on meeting the terms of a deal struck in 1997.

Medical cover

The teachers want the Government to honour their part of an agreement made through Legal Notice 534 in 1997 granting them 50 per cent of their basic salary for housing, 20 per cent for medical cover and 10 per cent as commuter allowance, a total of Sh25 billion.

Knut also wants the Government to release Sh4 billion for teacher promotions, Sh15.2 billion to hire another 40,000 instructors, Sh5 billion to employ 24,000 early childhood development (ECD) teachers and Sh700 million for training in information communication and technology.

“This is a serious strike that is coming. It is a protected strike. We want the Budget committee to include Sh25 billion for payment of teachers’ allowances to avert this looming crisis,” said Mudzo Nzili, the union’s assistant secretary-general. “We have only one option because the dispute was not resolved through conciliation. We want Legal Notice 534 implemented to the full.”

Nzili was speaking to The Standard shortly after presenting the teachers’ budget proposal to the committee.

According to Knut, the country has a deficit of 78,000 teachers, with the number expected to rise to 100,000 as a result of retirements this year.

“Education is being compromised due to low numbers of teachers, but as of now, there is no single cent to recruit more instructors,” said Nzili.

Knut also wants the Government to degazette Legal Notice 16 of 2003 to facilitate the implementation and release of the allowances.

Last year, the Government raised basic pay, and hardship and special schools’ allowances after a strike that paralysed learning for three weeks.

But teachers issued a strike notice over the scrapping of hardship allowances in some areas and a freeze on promotions.

Budget estimates

According to the 2013/14 Budget estimates, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is one of the priority ministries allocated substantial resources.

The ministry has been allocated Sh130.56 billion, with Sh97.1 billion and Sh33.45 billion reserved for recurrent and development spending, respectively.

Other priority ministries and departments include the Teachers Service Commission (Sh143.1 billion), Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government (Sh108.94 billion), Ministry of Devolution and Planning (Sh84.86 billion) and Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (Sh78.5 billion).