By Charles Okoth
Long ago, school workers were of two cadres: those paid by the government, and those paid exclusively by the Board. I think the former was called GP-33 workers.
Somewhere along the line, the GP-33 workers were removed from the ministry’s payroll. The school boards were told to be the sole employers of anybody working for the school. They were told to source for money from parents, in the spirit of cost-sharing.
That was a disaster. The boards could not source for sufficient funds. Some ended up over-employing since each coming board had its interests, which had to be catered for. They would also sack workers at will, as some of them had no grasp of the Employment Act. Most discouraged workers from joining their union, KUDHEIHA, or simply refused to forward deductions to that union.
Sometimes, in 2013, the government decided to send money to schools to cater for salaries of certain cadres of subordinate and non-teaching staff in schools. This was a very good move since it removed the burden from parents.
The only problem was that many of the BOMs did not adhere to ministerial instructions on the utilization of those funds. Many schools have more staff than they are mandated to have. Many day schools also use the same money for paying kitchen staff, when officially, those are supposed to be paid by parents.
Fast forward to the Corona era.
Whether from a change of policy or otherwise, the government suddenly stopped remitting money to schools for purposes of paying non-teaching staff. Their reasoning must have been that there was no need to pay workers when schools were not on.
This reasoning is queer, since the same government is paying teachers who are not teaching. Talk of double standards!
The government has shown great willingness to help people who are adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. There is talk of giving families cash handouts. There is talk of various concessions here and there.
The fact is that these workers are now in a big problem. They cannot cater to their basic needs. They have given their time to work in schools and help our children. Now they have nothing they can do. Schools are not on, and they have to wait for January when schools probably will open.
Someone told me that the money was remitted sometime last month, and then immediately withdrawn. The reason for this is not clear. But let’s face it: the money to pay these people had already been budgeted for. It is already with Jogoo House ‘B’. If they have human hearts, let them release the money. Just as they have families and assorted commitments, so have these men and women working in our schools. Sticking to the money for any reason would be the height of inhumanity. It is something I wouldn’t want to associate with the good, hyper-efficient professor running the Ministry of Education.
A parting shot here and this is something I have suggested severally before: re-introduce the GP-33 workers. It is ridiculous that people like accounts, clerks, bursars, cateresses etc, can spend a lifetime working for one employer. Some of these senior positions of school employees should be sent to schools by the ministry.
They should also not be people whose best qualification is that they come from the local community. They should be allowed to serve anywhere since they are professionals in their areas.
All in all, let it be agreed that these school workers, with or without Covid-19, should continue with their lives. Watchmen must continue watching over the schools’ public property without feeling that they have been dumped by the system. Cleaners must clean, and books of accounts must be written. The librarian must still maintain books. In effect, corona or no corona, schools must be looked after.
Okoth is an award-winning book author and a retired teacher based in Busia
