By Roy Hezron
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu has reiterated that teachers shall not go for trainings over the weekends while assuring teachers that the union was there to address anything that undermines their rights.
With reference to the training of teachers in Bomet County that was slated for weekends in October 2022 but later called off after protests from the union, Oyuu stated that teachers and their right to worship must be respected.
“Just the other week, a County Director of Education (CDE) summoned teachers in Bomet County to attend training on Saturdays and Sundays. The SDAs (Seventh Day Adventists) go to church on Saturdays and other Christians on Sundays. My big question is, is this Director with knowledge on what we had agreed on with the Teachers Service Commission and Ministry of Education?” Oyuu posed.
The union had protested the move by the Ministry of Education to train teachers in Bomet County over the weekend stating that it infringed on the rights of teachers who are off-duty over the weekends.
Mr Malel Langat, the KNUT National Executive Council member and Bomet branch Executive Secretary suggested that the training be held during weekdays.
“While we recognize the need for the training as of prime importance, we feel our members’ [teachers] right to freedom of worship as enshrined in our constitution will be infringed upon,” Mr Langat stated in a letter to the County Director of Education dated October 14, 2022.
The targeted teachers were to be trained on review of curriculum designs and instructional materials for Kiswahili, English and Literacy learning.
Oyuu stated that he called the Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha over the issue and stopped the training immediately.
“This is to bring to your attention that the CBC (Competency Based Curriculum) Grade 1, 2 and 3 trainings scheduled to take place on the 15th, 16th, 22nd and 23rd October 2022, are hereby suspended until further notice. This information should urgently reach the participants,” reads a notification by Bomet CDE Mr. Apollo Apuko to SCDEs (Sub-County Directors of Education) in Bomet County.
