Though the circumstances under which Treasury failed to include in this year’s Budget money to pay teachers their increased allowances, as agreed with past governments, the good news is that President Uhuru Kenyatta moved quickly to avert the planned strike by directing the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury Henry Rotich, Labour Secretary Kazungu Kambi and Education Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi to resolve the contentious issue within three days.
Regrettably, the supremacy battles that have been going on for years between Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut with a membership of 200,000 and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) with 40,000 has sown confusion. The result has been strikes in some parts of the country while it is business as usual in the others. The two unions ought to be prevailed upon to put their house in order because their differences are undermining the welfare of the very people they claim to represent. Even worse, the victims are children put under their care and parents who bear the consequences of inferior education. In short, the country is the loser. On its face, the money teachers are demanding is huge — Sh56 billion for Knut and Sh25.5 for Kuppet members. But that is no excuse because the government of the day signed an agreement with the teacher’s way back in 1997.
Since then teachers have gone on strike six times, disrupting learning in public schools every time and thus giving the students attending private schools more advantage.
It’s a pity the past governments have squandered the goodwill they had with the teachers and their unions, leading to the belief that political leaders only pay attention to workers’ plight after a strike. Yet, in many a civilized society, industrial action leading to a strike is a last option. A look back at these countries’ history shows their economies either stagnated or deteriorated whenever their was a long period of industrial unrest. This is a lesson Kenya’s leaders ought to take to heart if the country is to attain the development goals it has set for itself.
This is also why the conciliatory approach adopted by Deputy President William Ruto is commendable, for he also promised the University Academic Staff Union the government will honour the agreement to pay lecturers Sh1.8 billion.
It is hoped teachers, and all the other public servants who are lining up to test the new government will also remember moderation. This is a word that seems to have been purged out of the public discourse in the recent past.
No section of society should push its demands to a level that bankrupts the national coffers, because that way, everyone loses. Let the recent behavior by members of the National Assembly who threatened to paralyze government until they got what they wanted not be used to justify outrageous pay demands the country can’t sustain. But the teachers are simply asking to be paid what they were promised 16 years ago.
A second look at the teachers’ demands—an increase in the house allowance for the lowest paid teacher from Sh3,000 to Sh8,346, medical allowance to rise from Sh954 to Sh3,338 and commuter allowance to go up from Sh1,001 to Sh4,000—shows that the country could benefit from paying the money demanded provided it is used for productive purposes.
The Mwalimu National Savings and Credit Society plans to set up a housing scheme for its 53,000 members is a good place to start. The society says the houses will be sold for between Sh2.8 million and Sh4.5 million depending on the size of the house and its location.
Hopefully, other unions will take note.
