By Azael Masese
Teachers working in Government schools located within multinational tea farms work in deplorable conditions, with some of them forced to pick the crop during school holidays.
Bomet County KNUT Branch Executive Secretary Joseph Malel said this is demeaning to the teaching profession, adding it as the cause for the poor performance in national examinations.
Malel identified Konoin Sub County as home to the multinational tea farms and the worst hit and called for urgent Government intervention to bring to an end the inhumane acts.
During the 2017 KCPE, Konoin Sub County was ranked the last among the county’s five sub-counties. Others are Chepalungu, Bomet Central, Bomet East and Sotik sub counties.
According to the 2017 KCPE ranking conducted by the area KNUT, Konoin Sub County recorded a 224.77 mean score.
Sotik topped the charts recording a mean score of 266.53 followed by Chepalungu who registered 261.033.
Bomet Central and Bomet East reported mean scores of 260.44 and 247.033 emerging third and fourth in that order.
Some of the head teachers, he alleged, are micromanaged by the firms’ managers hence raising questions on their ability to execute their mandate as trained and qualified professionals.
Teachers also find it difficult to operate within the region as no public transport vehicle is allowed to access these farms.
“There are those willing to have roadside shops to provide services but they are not allowed and the nearest town they can do this is Kericho,” he noted.
He termed this as discrimination and a demonstration of relics of colonial tendencies citing the eviction of a Tenduet school teacher by the management.
“Our teachers have been subjected to unwarranted mistreatment by the management of the tea firms which amount to discrimination,” he said.
“We demand that our teachers be recognised as Government officers posted by the TSC and not to be treated as casual labourers in the tea estates,” he demanded.
Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) teachers are the soft target, he said, adding majority are forced to live with the stringent restrictions imposed on them.
“The ECDE teachers should not be subjected to menial duties during school holidays but should remain under the supervision of the head teachers and not any Tea estate personnel,” he said.
Besides, he called on the estates to allow teachers to operate small business to enable them reduce the long distances they cover in order to buy some of the basic commodities.
Speaking during the union’s 25th Annual General Meeting at the Bomet Centre for Devolved Governance (CDG), he said the performance negates the area’s abundant resources which should go to improve performance in the national examinations.
During the function, Mr Joseph Cheruiyot was elected as the branch chairman and Mr Richard Cheruiyot elected assistant treasurer.
