By Kipkemboi Toroitich
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has decried the government’s focus on infrastructure in schools while turning a blind eye on the need for more instructors.
Speaking during the 45th national conference of school heads, KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori said 115,000 teachers are urgently needed in Junior Secondary School to await the arrival of the pioneer CBC class.
The Kenya Secondary School Heads Associations (KESSHA) meets every year, except 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions, to deliberate on weighty matters affecting them and their schools.
The first batch of CBC learners is expected join the junior level of secondary school early next year. They will be sitting their summative exams in December, 2022.
Misori expressed concern that whereas infrastructure was important, the software for effective learning must be put in place early enough to avoid hitches.
“The government has introduced the 100% transition policy, and yet there is no talk of employing teachers,” he lamented.
Besides the CBC learners, there will also be an 8-4-4 Form One class to be accommodated. Whether the government has planned ahead for these two groups is still not clear.
Jumping to the contentious teachers’ salary matter, Misori noted that teachers suffered immensely as they watched their public service counterparts earn colossal perks in allowances and salaries each year. He wondered why the government had suspended negotiations unilaterally, saying they intend to revise the contents of the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Noting that the economy was on the recovery path, he asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to take them back to the negotiating table as soon as possible as Covid-19 and its ravages had abated.
TSC put off the salary negotiations soon after Covid-19 struck and have never revisited it.
