The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has revealed that the recent budget revisions proposed by the National Treasury will adversely impact the commission’s programmes and development projects.
One crucial area that will suffer will be the implementation of an agreed upon CBA and the employment of Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers.
TSC CEO, while appearing today before the Education Committee of the National Assembly, revealed that the reduction of Ksh10 billion in compensation to employees will delay the implementation of the second phase of the 2021–2025 CBA agreement between the commission and teacher unions, meaning that the teachers will wait longer.
“Ksh10,281,147,858 has reduced the recurrent budget. This reduction will impact the compensation of teaching service employees. As a result, the commission will not be able to implement the second phase of the 2021-2025 Amended CBA between the Commission and the Teacher Unions,” Macharia said.
According to the proposal by the National Treasury, TSC budget allocations for Financial Year 2024/25 will be reduced by Ksh18.9 billion following the withdrawal of the 2024 Finance Bill.
TSC said the huge budget cuts will negatively impact the hiring of junior secondary teachers across the country.
The commission’s overall recurrent budget has been reduced by Ksh10.28 billion, bringing the new gross recurrent budget to Ksh347.49 billion down from the initial allocation of Ksh357.77 billion.
It also projects to receive an allocation of Ksh404.3 million as the new development budget, down from the initial allocation of Ksh442.3 million.
The reduction of the development budget by Ksh38 million is set to affect the completion of the commission’s county offices in Machakos and Kilifi.
“This reduction will affect the completion of the commission’s county offices, specifically in Machakos and Kilifi counties. The two development projects are at an advanced completion stage and were to be handed over to the commission in September 2024. The budget cuts will inevitably delay payments to the contractors upon raising the completion certificate,” she stated.
The commission hinted at a move to review the number of teachers to be trained under the CBC programme due to a reduction in allocations to various expenditure items, including membership subscriptions to professional bodies, routine asset maintenance, and the purchase of motor vehicles.
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