Teachers’ victory over State on hardship pay

By Sam Otieno

Teachers emerged victorious when they forced the Government to back down on plans to slash their hardship allowances.

Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno yesterday announced teachers would continue earning a hardship allowance at the rate of 30 per cent of their salaries.

This is welcome news for more than 94,000 teachers who would have been affected if the benefits were slashed. The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) had opposed the Government move to harmonise hardship allowances for teachers and civil servants.

The decision to slash teachers’ allowances was announced in October, last year, after the Government agreed to the teachers’ demands to harmonise their salaries with those of other civil servants.

But the Government announced that the harmonisation would affect all emoluments and not only the basic salaries.

If the plans went ahead some teachers would have lost as much as Sh7,000 in hardship allowances.

This raised a storm among the teaching fraternity that expected to have the best of everything by having their basic salaries raised and their allowances intact.

Yesterday, Otieno announced teachers would retain hardship allowances they negotiated through a collective bargaining agreement contained in Legal notice No 534 of November 11, 1997.

"The teachers will continue to get 30 per cent of their basic salaries as hardship allowances until 2013, when their Collective Bargain Agreement expires," said Otieno.

To intervene

Knut petitioned Prime Minister Raila Odinga three months ago when it realised the Government was intent on slashing their allowances.

The union presented to the PM a memorandum in November, last year, asking him to intervene on the decision by the Ministry of Public Service to scrap payment of allowances on percentage basis.

Responding then, the PM said the Government was putting emphasis on education as a means of attaining its development objectives.

"It is important to ensure that we can attract, support, and retain high-quality teachers. That is why we take these concerns very seriously," Raila had said.

Otieno said the Government would treat the issue of teachers’ allowances separately from that of civil servants.

But the 30 per cent rule will only benefit teachers in higher job groups who have higher basic salaries.

The highest paid teachers, chief principals in job group R, will continue getting a hardship allowance of between Sh17,930 and Sh22,530.

But the lowest paid teacher, a P2 in job group F, will get hardship allowance of between Sh3,483 and Sh3,920.

Yesterday, top officials of Knut and TSC were locked up in a meeting with Ministry of Education officials at Jogoo House, Nairobi, to discuss pending issues in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The issues include promotion of PI ‘A’-level teachers, which has stagnated for about ten years, and reconstitution of Teachers Service Remuneration Committee to pave way for further negotiation of teachers’ allowances.

Education Secretary George Godia chaired the meeting while TSC Secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni and two other senior officers represented the commission. Majali, Knut chairman George Wesonga and treasurer Fred Ontere represented teachers.

Yesterday, Majali maintained what teachers have negotiated for over the years could only be withdrawn through a negotiated process that requires the involvement of the TSRC.

Welcomed decision

"Theses increments are not awarded; they are negotiated and hence another ministry can not take it away," said Majali.

Majali said unlike civil servants’ allowances that are awarded, those for teachers were negotiated and can therefore not be lumped together.

His Kuppet counterpart Njeru Kanyamba welcomed Otieno’s decision saying it is a boost for teachers.

Kanyamba said the decision to slash hardship allowances had been done without considering the plight of teachers in hardship areas.

Civil servants also had something to smile about when Otieno announced they would start getting enhanced allowances from July 1.

Civil servants would be paid a uniform amount of Sh5,000 for those working in moderate areas, and Sh10,000 for those in extreme hardship regions.

Previously, unmarried workers in the core Civil Service have been earning a paltry Sh600. The married were drawing Sh1, 200 per month for working in hardship areas.

But Otieno will still have to grapple with another controversy over which regions are hardship areas and which ones are not.

Last year, the minister revised hardship regions. He degazetted 25 divisions as hardship areas; classified more than 60 divisions as moderate, while 17 were put in the category of extreme hardship.

On its part, TSC has 38 areas gazetted as hardship compared to the rest of the Public Service, including the Armed Forces, which have 15.

Various factors

While degazetting the areas, the Government considered various factors such as availability and accessibility to food, potable water, social services and other amenities.

Yesterday, Otieno said another survey would be undertaken before gazettment of the areas as moderate or extreme hardship areas.

Some of the divisions that were degazetted include Kakuzi, Makuyu, and Kieni East and West divisions in Central Province.

In Eastern Province, the divisions degazetted are Mbooni, Kilungu, Kaiti and Kilome.

Rift Valley had the highest number of divisions no longer designated as hardship areas. These include Ngong in Kajiado North and Fort Ternan-Muhoroni in Ainamoi.

Four divisions in Kilgoris affected by the move are Kirdon, Keiyan, Puirra and Kilgoris. Kapsowar, Kapcherop, and Chebiemit in Marakwet West. Tirap and Kabiengo in Marakwet top the list from the Rift Valley.

Nyanza Province’s divisions degazetted include Miwani, Nyando, Upper and Lower Nyakach and Sondu divisions.