The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has been blamed for failing to confirm teachers who have been working in an acting capacity across Kenyan schools.
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has laid the blame on the Commission for failing to confirm teachers who are rightfully supposed to have been confirmed in their acting positions of administration.
Omboko Milemba the National Chairperson of the union said that the current Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) make it hard for classroom teachers to be promoted unless they are in positions of administration.
It has been revealed that teachers who are working in acting capacity roles are owed mouth-watering Kshs. 1 billion which KUPPET wants to ‘fight’ for their pay from the government.
According to Omboko Milemba, these amounts are for bills for services rendered but not paid for. He also said that the union is carrying out research to find out the amount owed to teachers in an acting capacity.
The KUPPET National Chair also revealed that most of the teachers affected are those in Job Grades C3 and C4.
Cumulatively, he said that the government also owes suppliers of goods and services more than Kshs. 650 billion. To settle some of the bills, he revealed that the union is having talks with the government to raise Kshs. 100 billion.
While attending KUPPET’s annual general meeting held at St. Columbans High School -Kitale, Milemba implored the Commission to review the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The Union has also submitted proposals to TSC on new payment packages for teachers. In the proposals, a teacher serving in Job Group B1 earns a Basic Salary of Kshs. 24,250.
If the TSC implements the recommendations of the union this teacher in this Job Grade B1 will earn a Basic Salary of Kshs. 89,016 in Job Grade D5.
In the recommendations, the highest-paid teacher will earn Kshs. 237,376 a substantial pay rise from the current Kshs. 148,360.
Milemba also implored the government to appoint the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to provide the teachers’ insurance medical scheme.