Public secondary school non-teaching staff have welcomed the new Senior School implementation guidelines set to take effect next year, saying the Ministry of Education has finally addressed long-standing issues affecting their welfare.
Speaking to Education News in a recent interview, the Kenya Union of Secondary Schools Non-Teaching Staff (KUSSNTS) Secretary General Nahashon Ndiemae expressed satisfaction on the guidelines stating that it will go a long way in solving some of the challenges their members have been going through.
Such suffering as stated by Ndiemae has included very low pay, lack of career progression, unsafe working conditions, leave denial, supervision by multiple supervisors, unreasonable working hours and denied retirement benefits.
He noted that for the past four years, the union has been engaging the Ministry of Education, the National Assembly’s Education Committee, and the Legal Affairs Committee to fast-track amendments to the Basic Education Act, 2013, that would allow the direct employment of school support staff. However, he said the efforts have not been successful, leaving the workers to continue suffering under BOM management.
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“The suffering and mismanagement of secondary school non-teaching staff which began back in 1993 when GP 33 programme under which NTS were employed and managed was phased out, and the employment passed on to the schools’ board of management (BOM), the said staff have undergone pain and suffering under the worst form of mismanagement,” said Ndiemae.
“The suffering and mismanagement of secondary school non-teaching staff began in 1993 when the GP 33 programme, which previously employed and managed NTS, was phased out, transferring their employment to the Boards of Management (BOM). Since then, the staff have endured persistent hardship under what he described as the worst forms of mismanagement,” said Ndiemae.
“We appreciate that the MoE has finally found some merit in our complaints and issued some legal and procedural issues pertaining the management of NTS. A good number of recommendations we made to the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) in 2023 have been considered,” he added.
According to Ndiemae, the recently released guidelines have clearly clarified management protocol which will mitigate the scenario whereby NTS were being supervised by multiple supervisors, while at the same time clarifying that the Scheme of service applicable for the secondary schools NTS are exactly and similar to their equivalent cadres in the civil service.
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He also observed that the new guidelines equally specified that the NTS are entitled to allowances including house allowance, medical allowance and commuter allowance at a rate similar to those in the civil service.
“Clarification that secondary schools NTS are in the category of civil servants is an important milestone going forward. The requirement to involve the County Education Boards while declaring vacancies and in the recruitment is a very important move to mitigate haphazard hiring of unqualified staff or through nepotism and discrimination as has been the case,” remarked Ndiemae.
“Issuance of employment letters detailing duties, responsibilities, benefits and type of contracts is a legal requirement under the employment Act, and its emphasis in the guidelines is crucial. The ministry should equally be applauded for putting the well-being of the secondary schools non-teaching staff into consideration,” he added.
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He took issues with the school BOMs which he said that they are very cruel towards NTS making them to fall into depression which eventually ends up being physical ill, a move that make BOMs to either dismiss them or withdraw payment of their salaries.
By the guidelines clarifying that the employer has an important duty to safeguard the mental well-being, safety, emotional wellness, protection from harassment, intimidation, malice from supervisors and reasonable workload; Ndiemae notes that the effect will promote motivated, healthy and productive staff in secondary schools.
The union has also been requesting that funds for salaries and service gratuity be held in separate accounts, of which the ministry has captured in the guidelines, with MoE also putting more emphasis on prioritizing training at the expense of the employer and promoting staff on merit to build morale and career development.
“Non-teaching staff are now classified into three categories namely administrative staff, specialized staff and site staff each playing important supportive roles to education. It’s worth noting that the guidelines has considered the recommendations from the Kilemi Mwiria education reforms tasks force on staff establishment and management,” observed Ndiemae.
By Roy Hezron
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