Knut wins as TSC move on promotions quashed

John Matiang’i, Wilson Sossion, Wycliffe Omucheyi and other Knut officials at a past press conference. The teachers’ union won over TSC in court yesterday. [File, Standard]

Teachers yesterday scored a major victory against their employer on transfers, appraisals, promotions, training and union membership.

But the battle is not yet over, as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) immediately announced it would appeal the decision.

The Labour Court in Nairobi sided with the teachers’ union in their argument that head teachers, their deputies and teachers who are in management positions are unionisable and can contest any position in the unions.

Career promotions

The court also upheld Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) lawyers Hillary Sigei and John Mbaluto’s argument that those who are in leadership positions in the union should only be transferred to the same geographical location they represent.

Justice Byrum Ongaya also quashed a promotions circular which had limited career progression to those with teachers training certificates.

TSC had in May 2018 issued a policy introducing career progression guidelines and abolishing the three prevailing schemes of service. 

The commission scrapped the three schemes of service for non-graduate, graduate and technical teachers and lecturers, and implemented performance appraisal tools to guide promotions.

Under the old arrangement, all non-graduate teachers in job group G would progress through automatic promotion to job group L. Promotions were effected every three years and based on annual appraisals. The teachers could also move from job group L to N through interviews.

Graduate teachers in job group P would move through progression to job group R.

Under the new arrangement, all teachers will be required to undertake modular training in selected institutions, which will issue certificates that will be filed by TSC to guide promotions.

It meant that teachers would no longer be promoted based on academic papers but on professional training and work output.

Training for each of the six TSC-developed modules would cost between Sh7,000 and Sh14,000. If all 312,060 teachers undertake the training, Sh4.3 billion would be struck off their payslip.

While outlawing the plan, Justice Ongaya ruled that TSC should follow the teachers scheme of service in promotions and should align the same to the collective bargaining agreement it signed with the unions.

“The court returns that the petitioner will undertake teacher promotion in accordance with the relevant provisions and schemes of service with respect to all unionisable teachers,” the judge ruled.

He, however, gave a caveat for TSC, with consultation with the unions to review the current schemes of service in a bid to align it with the prevailing CBA.

Teachers also got a reprieve until Parliament enacts regulation to guide on career development training.

TSC had come up with career development training programmes in which a teacher ought to have shown that they have attended the training in a bid to acquire an annual teaching certificate. In the event they failed to attend, their names would be struck out of the teachers’ register.

The commission insisted that all teachers in public and private schools would be required to undertake mandatory Teacher Professional Development (TPD) courses during the school holidays at their own cost.

It said the training will deepen teachers’ knowledge in subject specialisation.

According to Justice Ongaya, although TPD was a plausible programme, it needed a backing of the law enacted and passed by Parliament.

He faulted the commission, saying that it had no powers to make its own laws and implement them.

On teachers’ appraisals, the court found that Knut could not walk away from the same agreement it had with the teachers’ employer. He however ruled that appraisals should be ready by December 1 for a roll out in January 2020.

According to the judge, appraisals should be done at the TSC’s cost.

Agreeable issues

TSC said it is going to appeal on Monday, claiming that it had found errors in the judgment.

“We have looked at the judgment and we have found errors in law and fact and we will appeal at the earliest opportunity,” said TSC lawyer Timon Oyucho

Among the issues which were agreeable between TSC and Knut was one that teachers, even those in management and who are in the union, should be transferred according to the code of regulations for teachers.

“The petitioner has carefully considered the Knut’s demand and acceded to henceforth restrict the transfer of elected Knut branch officials within the geographical areas they are elected to serve,” TSC argued.

Knut has 100 branches spread throughout the country. Its officials are approximately 1,700.