The Public Petitions Committee of the National Assembly has resolved to summon the top leadership of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to clarify how hardship zones are determined nationwide.
This action follows a session chaired by Edith Nyenze (Kitui West), during which a petition filed by the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) from Machakos County was deliberated.
The petition, tabled by Vincent Musyoka (Mwala), questions the exclusion of Mwala and Kalama sub-counties from the list of hardship-designated areas, despite facing similar conditions to neighbouring zones that qualify for the allowance.
“As a Committee, we will meet TSC leadership and even the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to find out the criteria they use to categorise areas as hardship zones,” said Nyenze.
According to the petitioners, teachers in the two sub-counties are missing out on hardship allowances, while adjacent areas already benefit from the same.
“Mwala is geographically located amid Yatta, Kitui Rural and Mbooni East, which are all hardship zones,” observed Musyoka.
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“In Kalama Sub-county, teachers in 33 public secondary schools are entitled to hardship allowance, while 9 schools have been left out,” he added.
Committee member Patrick Makau (Mavoko) also urged the panel to interrogate the TSC on disparities in house allowance allocations for teachers in metropolitan areas. He highlighted inconsistencies in how teachers in closely located urban zones are compensated.
“It’s unfair for a teacher in Mlolongo in my constituency to get a lower house allowance than their colleagues in the nearby Embakasi South Constituency. The two areas are in the same Nairobi metropolitan region,” noted Makau.
The legislators unanimously agreed that harmonising house and hardship allowances would promote equity among educators in similar environments.
By Joseph Mambili
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