KUPPET strike kicked off in Kericho County today with calls for the government to confirm the 46,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers.
The Kericho branch Secretary Mary Rotich told the government to be serious on allocation of funds for the JSS employment and stop issuing conflicting statements.
“It’s demoralizing when today, you hear a senior government official saying there are no funds for the JSS programme, then on the second day, the same official is saying there is money. We need transparency on the issue and people entrusted with such responsibility should not talk from both sides of the mouth, “she said in Kericho.
The official called on the government to relook into the health cover of the teachers, which she termed as pathetic and gave serious cases where concerned teachers were treated as outpatients when more serious attention was needed.
The reduction of the medical cover from Ksh22 billion to Ksh11 billion was a bad omen as she observed it risked a resultant downgraded medical coverage.
“If teachers were not receiving adequate medical care when the budget was high, it is obvious now that the service will go from bad to worse,” added Rotich.
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The trade unionist who was accompanied by KUPPET Chairperson Jonah Korir, Treasurer Zablon Rono and other officials and teachers called for urgent recognition of postgraduate degree holders in the teaching profession, claiming the group was snubbed instead of being promoted.
“Where in the world are personnel with good professional credentials not recognised? The TSC does not recognize postgraduate teachers, an issue that should be corrected,” she said.
The teachers marched along the major streets of the town, later congregating at Moi Garden for prayers and speeches.
By Benedict Ng’etich
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