SRC’s Job Evaluation Endorses Pay Rise for Classroom Teachers This July
Classroom teachers have reason to be excited as a new job evaluation now recognizes their big role in the school. This has set the stage for higher pay this July when their current Sh. 54 Billion pay deal ends. This is according to reports on The Standard.
Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has disclosed that the last job evaluation was not done properly and favored heads of schools, leaving classroom teachers at a disadvantage.
The report shows that the current job descriptions of classroom teachers, based on the 2016/17 valuation, undervalued their worth by far. This resulted in poor pay.
The report reveals that the present Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), was implemented based on the last job evaluation that favored headteachers as it did not capture classroom teachers’ job descriptions.
“There were significant disparities in the compensation and career progression between the institutional administrators and classroom teachers in the teaching profession as the job evaluation results for 2016/17 did not adequately cater for the remuneration of classroom teachers. This might be attributed to poor development of job descriptions in 2016,” read the report.
This means that for the last four years classroom teachers were paid less in the CBA which is set to end in June. Classroom teachers make up the majority of the staff.
The current CBA indicates that primary school headteachers and principals of secondary schools were moved to higher job grades in the year 2016.
All headteachers of primary schools (both boarding and day schools were automatically moved up to Grade D1. In this Grade D1 teachers earn between Sh. 77,840 to Sh. 93,408.
Primary headteachers with a lower student population moved up to C5 earning between Sh. 52,308 and Sh. 65,385.
Senior Primary teachers rose up to Grade C2 and have been earning between Sh. 34,955 and Sh. 43,694.
National school principals were moved to Grade D5 for salaries of between Sh. 131,380 and Sh. 157, 656 per month. The pay was also according to the categories of schools. Principals of extra-county schools moved to grade D5 while their deputies moved to job group D3.
Principals of county schools rose to grade D4 while those of sub-county boarding schools rose to grade D4. Deputy Head Teachers of county and sub-county schools moved to grades D3 and D2 respectively.
On the other hand, Principals of sub-county day schools move to Grade D3 while secondary school senior headmasters moved to Grade D4.
This was based on a new structuring ranging from T-Scale 15(job group D5) for the Chief Principal to T-Scale (B5) for the Primary Teacher II becoming the lowest grade.
In the new evaluation, it is the same structure that has been used.
In the new grading system that was adopted after the 2016/17 job evaluation, P1 which was in group G was removed and replaced with the B5 grade. This now became the entry grade for primary school teachers.
Other grades of previous times i.e. J, K, L, M, and N were renamed to C1, C2, C3, C4, and C5 respectively.
Teachers also got additional groups S and T, which in turn were renamed to grades D4 and D5 respectively.
School managers benefitted more from the current grading system with classroom teachers getting less pay. However, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) said that it looked at the relative worth of the job and level of responsibility, impact, and decision-making.
The good thing now for classroom teachers, however, is that results of the 2021/22 to 2024/2025 remuneration review cycle, which shall be used to negotiate the next phase of teacher’s salaries now captures their true worth and indicates a clear job description which will form the foundation for negotiations regarding pay for the 2021/25 CBA.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion has revealed that they are planning to give job evaluation as a condition for the next CBA talks.
“A job evaluation for all classroom teachers who were not compensated properly in the current CBA is a strong precondition to any progress in the negotiations,” said Sossion in a February 23 letter to TSC.
The new report has also eliminated the remuneration of headteachers based on the categories of schools. This has also caused serious administrative challenges in the appointment, transfer, and deployment of teachers.
“TSC’s administrative and contractual mandate to deploy and re-assign institutional administrators has been severely curtailed by the categorization,” read the report.
In the CBC, the categories of schools are national schools, extra-county schools, county schools, and sub-county schools. These categories are now going to be phased out and career pathways of social sciences, sports science and arts and science Technical Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Besides, the new job evaluation recognizes their new tasks under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). This gives tasks of supervision.
“Introduction of CBC significantly varied the scope and the job content of teachers’ duties and responsibilities, consequently the TSC has developed and submitted more comprehensive JDs on the same,” read the report.
Therefore, teacher job descriptions will capture their added roles in the CBC. This gives the classroom teachers a major boost in the talks for the 2021-2025 CBA cycle.
The report reveals that teachers will have added supervisory roles which were not initially captured in their present job descriptions. Classroom teachers will now take part in learning and teaching activities.
The classroom shall now have the responsibility of supervising school rules and routines while they are on duty. In addition, they will supervise the safety of learners and their health during practical lessons. They shall also supervise school programs and coordinate subjects in the areas they specialized in.
According to the report that all primary classroom teachers shall provide education to learners in primary institutions. They will do this by facilitating the acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values.
Molding and Empowering Learners
“Both positions shall have the responsibility for molding and empowering learners to be ethical citizens as per the curriculum and goals of education,” reads the report.
The new job evaluation results make teachers integral in the new CBA talks. This signaled better times to come. Teachers’ unions will now use them in negotiating for higher pay in the new CBA, as the job evaluation report reveals that teachers have major roles in the CBC.
KNUT proposed a salary rise by between 120 and 200 percent.
Basically, this means that the monthly basic salary for the lowest-paid teacher (in Grade B5) might rise from the current Sh. 21,756 up to a maximum of Sh. 87,024. Salaries of the highest-paid teachers (Grade D5) might rise from the current Sh. 131,380 to a maximum of Sh. 394,140.
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) proposed a salary rise ranging from 30% to 70% in the new CBA.
If their proposals are implemented, the lowest-paid teachers’ salaries will rise from Sh. 21,756 to Sh. 36,985. Those in higher cadres in Job Group D4, earning Sh. 118, 242 will then earn Sh. 153, 714.
In TSC’s recommendation to SRC, TSC proposed a raise of around 16% to 32% for all teachers.
On September 9, 2020, the letter TSC Chief Executive Nancy Macharia recommended that teachers who are below Grade CA to D5 get a pay rise of 16% as those in Grade B4 to C3 to earn a 32% pay rise.
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