Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has directed striking university lecturers to immediately resume duty or risk disciplinary action, including being cited for contempt of court.
Speaking in Mombasa on Tuesday during a stakeholder engagement on the Status of Pre-Service Teacher Training and Teacher Employment in Kenya, Ogamba announced that the government had released Ksh2.5 billion to address grievances raised by the lecturers.
The CS noted that the High Court had already suspended the ongoing strike and ordered lecturers back to class, a directive that has yet to be fully complied with.
“Court orders must be obeyed. Otherwise, you will be in contempt, which may necessitate disciplinary action. We are asking the lecturers to get back to work,” Ogamba stated.
He added that all grievances can be addressed through dialogue rather than strikes, which he said disrupt the learning calendar and disadvantage students.
Lecturers under the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) took to the streets after the government failed to honour a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) after filing a strike notice on September 11.
However, on September 18, the Employment and Labour Relations Court issued orders directing lecturers, currently on strike, to pick up their tools and head back to class.
Justice Jacob Gakeri issued the ruling after the Inter-Public Universities' Councils Forum sought legal redress, seeking to have the strike stopped. While delivering his ruling, Justice Gakeri certified the matter as urgent and directed the parties to continue negotiating to resolve the contested matters.
Interestingly, the lecturers are yet to get back to their work.
Ghost Schools
Ogamba, at the same time, announced that the government was in the process of finalising its report on the audit of ghost schools in the country. According to him, the report will be released in a week.
''We are optimistic that by the end of the week we will have the data on how many schools and students we have in order to seal the loopholes,'' Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok echoed.
On JSS
Ogamba has disclosed that the government is already working on granting autonomy to Junior Secondary Schools (JSS), assuring stakeholders that a solution will be found soon.
His remarks come after the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) last week renewed calls for the government to grant JSS full autonomy, separate from both Primary and Senior Secondary Schools.
KUPPET has been pushing for the establishment of a distinct administrative framework for JSS learners, arguing that the current arrangement of placing them within Primary Schools is ineffective.
According to the union, the current model has created confusion in areas such as co-curricular activities and administrative responsibilities, leaving both teachers and learners disadvantaged.
