Resume talks to avert unrest

A dark cloud once again hangs over the education sector after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) walked out of salary talks with teachers yesterday.

Predictably, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) threatened to call a nationwide strike if the Ministry of Labour does not intervene within seven days. Last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the two parties to sit down and hammer out a deal by next week. However, going by yesterday's development, it is unlikely that this deadline will be met.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) officials led by (left) Secretary General William Sossion. (PHOTO: FILE/ STANDARD)

What is mostly likely to happen soon is that teachers will spill out into the streets to demand a pay increase. This should not happen. Teachers’ strikes have become an annual ritual, no wonder education standards in public primary and secondary schools continue to plummet. The reason for the TSC pull-out is still unclear. Nonetheless, running away from a problem has never been a solution; neither do two wrongs make a right.

Needless to say, parents and their children have grown tired of recurrent battles between teachers and their employer. There is no question that teachers deserve a salary increase. The question, and this is most likely the bone of contention, is how much they should be given. TSC and teachers' unions must urgently return to the negotiating table and come up with an agreeable figure to avert needless suffering of children.