The month of January each year is usually punctuated with financial upheavals in all sectors. Nowander Kenyans, have not disappointed by baptising it as “Njaanuary”.
Its complexity is sometimes attributed to expensive Christmas festivities of the previous year and demanding back to school budgets.
The case, however, seems to be different for our schools and teachers who participated in last year’s retooling exercise organised by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). The schools are for now facing the worst financial nightmares the second week after opening. Many secondary school students continue to dot and paint towns and major roads as they go back home to look for fees.
It is surprising that these students seem to enjoy going back home as they find it an extension of December holiday. With lack of funds to sustain students at school and pressure from non-teaching staff, Principals are compelled to send the students home in a bid to have the schools running.
A survey done by Education News revealed that some Principals are forced to spend little time at school in order to avoid suppliers and subordinate staff who throng their offices demanding for their payments. Already, some Principals have decided to take the bull by its horns by going for bank loans to keep their schools afloat.
Incessant calls by teachers who participated in retooling exercise in December are a dejected lot. A group of them who spoke to Education News lamented over the the delay of payment of their allowances.
“Why does TSC take longer to pay us such a small allowance? We used our salary to meet the travelling and rent rooms during training,” lamented one of the female teachers in Kitui.
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Many teachers are up in arms with Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) for failing to speak for them over delayed payments of allowances after the training exercise. They feel taken for granted by their union only to resurface when there is delay in salaries.
The same cries are felt, albeit silently among the Commission’s field officers who are submerged in execution of promotional interviews across the country.
In one of the social places in Central Kenya, some TSC officers were heard decrying inability to run the process effectively due to lack facilitation from the TSC as it were with the previous interviews.
Some officers have been compelled to contribute for their snacks and lunch. A survey by Education News on the same revealed a replicated scenario in the interview venues.
Release of capitation funds will ease the heat in our schools. Equally, timely payment of teachers retooling allowances will act as a morale booster in other upcoming exercises.
By Kaptich Tarus.
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