The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has called on the government to resolve critical issues ahead of a planned teachers’ strike on August 26, 2024, coinciding with the reopening of schools for the third term.
Omboko Milemba, KUPPET’s chairman, emphasized in an interview with Daybreak that the government must enforce the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and implement a salary increase ranging from 2.5% to 9%.
This agreement covers various issues, including salaries, allowances, increases in housing allowances, promotions, and adjustments to teachers’ workloads.
Milemba further stated that the 2021-2025 CBA would ensure teachers are compensated properly after deductions, such as the Housing Levy, are taken from their pay.
He mentioned that teachers’ unions have engaged in extensive discussions with the government regarding the agreement but expressed concern over the lack of urgency in addressing these matters. Milemba added that teachers have exhausted all avenues to have their grievances addressed by their employer, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
“I carried all the teachers to a meeting with the president and told him that he’s the first president who wants to get money from the teachers’ pockets. (First president Jomo) Kenyatta gave teachers salaries, and (former president Daniel) Moi gave the celebrated Adongo deal while (third president Mwai) Kibaki gave the harmonised deal, (retired fourth president) Uhuru gave the Ksh.54 billion CBA, but for the president he wanted to get something out of teachers’ pockets,” he stated.
“After long deliberations, we agreed that if the Housing Levy is to go on, the teachers would sign a CBA to make sure they are compensated for what they were going to lose. In fact, the CBA is a compensation. We went forward and teachers signed CBA with gov’t through TSC. The CBA was small because ordinarily they wanted to sign a 30-70 per cent increase while the one we were given is an 11 per cent and harmonised house allowance.”
Milemba also highlighted the issue of over 130,000 teachers who have been stagnated in their job groups for more than a decade, which is hindering career growth within the sector. He urged for regular promotions to senior positions, such as deputy heads and school heads.
Additionally, he addressed the situation of 46,000 contract teachers, advocating for their conversion to permanent and pensionable terms. Milemba also called for the recruitment of an additional 20,000 teachers to address the staffing shortage in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).
The government had initially aimed to secure funding for JSS teachers through the Finance Bill 2024, which was later repealed following public backlash. President William Ruto, however, stated that he would seek alternative ways to raise the necessary funds.
“We’re demanding all the 46,000 JSS teachers be confirmed. We pleaded the ones who had been sacked because of their strikes be reinstated. We thank the president that when he rose from his place, he pardoned 751 who were supposed to be dismissed because of participating in strike,” Milemba said.
The KUPPET chair also expressed concerns about the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) revoking teachers’ medical coverage starting December 1, 2024, citing that the limited budget would not support the third phase of their medical contract.
This medical contract operates on a three-year cycle, with the third phase scheduled to begin in December at a cost of Ksh 20.6 billion. Milemba emphasized the need for the government to ensure that the medical coverage remains intact despite the budget cuts resulting from President Ruto’s austerity measures.
