Teachers across the country are feeling cold in the feet after the government announced to provide them with medical health insurance through the Social Health Authority (SHA) a move which has faced fierce resistance from the education stakeholders who argue that this might deny teachers some of the benefits they enjoy in the current scheme that will expire at the end of November.
Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Officer Evaleen Mitei announced last week that all teachers will be migrated to SHA by December 1, however teacher unions have remained skeptical on the intention of the government saying that the move is more political instigated and not professionally aligned.
Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Secretary-General Akelo Misori told one of the local dailies that he was apprehensive of the deal and accused the government of pushing a “politically-engineered” cover without addressing glaring gaps.
“One of the unknowns is how they are going to surmount the challenges which were in the other cover: They were not ready to commit that they were going to include the group life cover, which is part of the other package,” he said, questioning the practicality of SHA’s promises.
“They told us that the previous cover under Minet and Medical Administrators (K) Ltd was using about 800 facilities while SHA is now claiming to have over 9,000. But many of these are just local health centres, dispensaries and county-run referrals, some of which don’t even have specialists or consultants,” Misori added.
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Misori added that there are more than 400,000 teachers on the TSC payroll. Considering their spouses and children, the scheme have over one million people covered, the number which is beyond the capacity designated for teacher the SHA.
Misori emphasised that teachers’ voices will be central in determining whether the cover is accepted or rejected.
“Much as people don’t like change, the truth is this is not the best time to move to SHA,” he said.
He also argued that the transition appears to have been politically-engineered rather than guided by professional assessments of teachers’ needs.
“We thought TSC was going to independently procure another cover. But after the State House meeting where the president hinted he was unhappy with Minet, it became clear we were being steered towards SHA,” he said.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers also said it will not rush into endorsing the government’s proposal to transfer the teachers’ medical insurance to SHA.
“It’s a matter we have to take back to our members very carefully. The SHA took us through several presentations. In our opinion, the process is not complete. We feel it is only right to take this matter to the National Executive Council for a final decision,” Secretary-General Collins Oyuu said.
By Juma Ndigo
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