A teacher’s salary was expected to rise in July, but instead, thousands of teachers have suffered unexplained deductions.
In response, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has come to say that the full rate of allowances payable to teachers will be achieved upon completion of implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in four years.
The Commission said the figures the teachers who had protested pay discrepancies were referring to were those they would earn when the fourth phase of the negotiated salary and allowances is implemented.
In a statement issued yesterday, TSC advised teachers that the CBA was being implemented in four phases running from July 1, last year to July 1, 2020.
“The full rate of the allowances due as per the new grades will be achieved when the final phase of the CBA is implemented on July 1, 2020,” read the statement issued by Catherine Lenairoshi from the corporate communications office.
But Zablon Awange, Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Kisumu branch chairman, accused TSC of misleading teachers about the CBA.
“How does TSC explain cases where a teacher is paid an allowance in one month then it stops. Or he gets less for what he is entitled to after the first installment,” said Mr Awange.
He said failure to conform to the regulations of the CBA had far-reaching consequences for teachers. “The CBA is clear on how much each teacher will be paid within two years or four years. The breakdown is 50:50 and 25:25:25:25 ratio,” Awange said.
He said some teachers were retiring without being paid their salaries and allowances, adding that it would affect their pension.
“The details of the implementation of the CBA are in public domain, having been shared through circulars,” Ms Lenairoshi said.
This news report was first published in the Standard newspaper