Teachers in Meru County have threatened to go on strike when schools reopen next term unless the 44, 000 interns teachers are employed on Permanent and Pensionable terms
Meru County branch of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers (KUPPET) said they will not return to class next term unless all their grievances are resolved.
Speaking at Nteere park in Meru town, the branch Executive Secretary Morris Njira said the 44, 000 interns listed to be employed under the Permanent and Pensionable scheme must be employed before they resume teaching.
Njira regretted that teachers working as interns are facing tough times while conducting their duties, educating the Kenyan child, due to the meagre pay they are receiving.
“The pay the teachers on internship are receiving of Ksh 17, 000 is very small, leading to broken families while their parents are left in despair,” said Njiira.
He urged President William Ruto to intervene and ensure that the intern teachers are employed permanently and on pensionable terms.
“Even the court ruled out that an internship is unconstitutional and discriminatory. That is why the intern teachers should be employed on a permanent and pensionable basis; failure to which we shall not resume teaching next term. I urge President Ruto to intervene and ensure they are employed,” said the KUPPET official.
Njiira called on the government to ensure that the healthcare welfare of the teachers is well taken care of, explaining that the present conditions are poor and unacceptable.
He blamed the present medical scheme, SHA, for its inability to take care of the teachers’ welfare.
“The comprehensive medical care is so inefficient that if you are referred to a higher-level hospital to seek health services, you will wait from morning till evening, and you might leave without help due to failed systems,” said Njiira.
He called on the Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale to resolve the issue, emphasising the importance of teachers, noting that they educate all leaders, including ministers.
The official called on the Ministry of Education to enact autonomy on the organisational structure of the school, explaining that the present structure is seeing the teachers under different unions in disagreements.
He called for a clear division of the structures, from the primary school, the junior secondary school and the senior school, with their own separate leadership.
He explained that with such autonomy, the Curriculum-Based Education will thrive and succeed.
Njjira further called on the examination body, Kenya National Examinations Council [KNEC], to fully complete the payments for the examination markers and invigilators, since months have passed since the examination exercise was completed, yet some of the parties have not been fully paid.
“ I think the teachers are being taken for granted. We are now in April, but the teachers who invigilated and marked the exams in November and December have not been fully paid, with some just receiving a part of the agreed amounts,” he lamented.
READ ALSO: Teachers need empathy for their personal struggles, Meru KUPPET boss tells principals
He suggested that it would be prudent if the exam markers were paid before the marking exercise and assured that, in the presence of proper reimbursement, no teacher would default on the marking process.
Njiira said that in case such a case happens, the responsible parties would face disciplinary actions from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
By John Majau
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