The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has written to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in a bid to renegotiate the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) deal.
According to KNUT boss, Collins Oyuu, the union is pushing for promotions and salary increment for teachers.
Alluding to this agreement, Oyuu called on TSC to make known the teachers' promotion criteria. He added that the teachers' union will expedite the discussions in order to cushion them from the ever rising inflation and cost of life.
"The economy is improving and so we have written to the TSC so that we can have something on the table for our teachers. It is known that Treasury has already appropriated funds to boost TSC kitty for the same purpose.
"We are determined to have ourselves, employer and any other necessary stakeholder to expedite this discussion and have our teachers cushioned against the ravaging inflation," he stated.
Further, the KNUT boss sought a reversal of the punitive teacher transfers arguing that the employer should transfer tutors from one station to another on a needs basis.
"These transfers must not be punitive by any standards. Teachers should always feel there is a genuine reason they are being moved from one station to another."
"TSC should ensure those who are being transferred are taken to places where they can work and produce results, not to places where they feel punished,” he added.
Oyuu, further pushed for the delocalisation policy in order to streamline transfer of teachers. He added that the policy affected married couples.
"All our members who feel aggrieved by this policy shall be assisted to have them work close to their families and spouses. This must not attract any argument since it is espoused in the running CBA. We wish to invite affected members to reach out to us for support,” he pointed out.
The KNUT boss also detailed that the country needed 100,000 more teachers to meet the shortage experienced. He reiterated that the shortage of teachers in primary schools stands at 84,000 while in secondary schools, the number stands at 12,000.
Alluding to this, he pushed for more funds to be deployed in order for more teachers to be employed and classrooms to be built.
