Board of Management teachers and support staff are set to receive their salaries after going for over three months unpaid. The government announced that it will release the funds at the end of July 2020 to support the teachers and staff on public schools’ payroll.
On Thursday, July 23, Education CAS Zack Kinuthua indicated that the Ministry was considering paying BOM staff to cushion them from the effects of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, while chairing the National and County Governments Coordinating Summit at State House on Monday, July 27, directed CSs Ukur Yattani (Treasury) and George Magoha (Education) to expedite the payment.
He then asked them to outline how they will work on the technical modalities around the payment. This includes budgeting to release of funds. However, the plight of private school teachers who requested for a similar package was not discussed.
CS Magoha was also tasked with developing protocols for community learning, which shall guide learning through a teacher-volunteering program for children living in the same community or neighbourhood.
The Head of State further directed the Education Ministry to commence a transformative program to upgrade all basic learning institutions in Kenya.
This is aligned with CS Magoha's new proposal on reopening of schools in January 2021, with focus on social distancing.
"The Ministry of Education shall expedite the roll-out of the eight-point stimulus program which targets to improve school infrastructure by various means, including the acquisition of at least 250,000 locally fabricated desks," Kenyatta stated.
Magoha outlined his proposal within a document titled Guidelines on Health and Safety Protocols for Reopening of Basic Education Institutions Amid Covid-19 Pandemic. The upgrade of schools is expected to cost parents, with school fees poised to increase.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion asked the government to bear most of the responsibility as parents were already overstretched by the pandemic.
"Despite the safety of our students and teachers being a priority, we should also consider our parents who are overburdened. The government should shoulder some burden and not pass them all to parents," Sossion urged.
