The government has been cautioned against removing the hardship allowance for teachers and other civil servants, as this would inevitably cause problems in the classroom.
Kisii University don Dr. Erick Onsongo says that the move will demoralise teachers and lead to a diluted standard of education in the country.
“The government is supposed to motivate its workers with increments in salaries and promotions for the smooth running of the system instead of discouraging them and expecting desirable results,” he said.
The scholar blamed Prime Minister CS Musalia Mudavadi for the impending government proposal to scrap the allowances of teachers serving in hardship zones to limit government expenditure.
His sentiments were echoed by Nyamira County KNUT executive Secretary Nicolas Nyang’au, who said that most teachers survive on loans from banks, basing their repayment on the total amount they earn, including their hardship allowances. He argued that denying them the allowances would be tantamount to forcing them into economic suicide.
Nyang’au asked the government to find the best ways of harmonising and increasing teachers’ allowances instead of using imaginary excuses such as the lack of money in the Government treasury.
He cited frequent visits by Government officials to foreign countries and other non-urgent expenditures, like the renovation of prominent government servants’ residences.
Nyang’au foresees an alarming exodus of teachers moving from the zoned hardship areas to leave the students unattended.
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He said teachers are the easiest government civil servants to handle because they do not demand much apart from their salaries and amicable working relationships with the communities they serve. He asked the government to toss them from one situation to another, especially by provoking them and touching their economic welfare.
“We ask the government to dare to scrap the allowances, and they will witness the worst-ever teachers’ peaceful demonstration over what rightfully belongs to them,” he said.
According to the Kenya Teachers Hardship and Arid Areas Welfare Association (KETHAWA), scrapping their hardship allowances will reflect a conspicuous long-term disregard and negligence of the teachers who play a pivotal role in shaping the lives of this country’s children and the rest of the world.
They asked the government to review the allowances and increase them instead of swindling and using them to molest innocent teachers, instead of encouraging them to collect national development services.
By Enock Okong’o.
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