TSC should employ ECDE teachers, KNUT says

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should take over the employment of teachers on the Early Childhood Development Education programme.

Through their Executive Secretary, Alfred Rop, teachers who are members of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Bureti branch proposed that the TSC was the body mandated to employ teachers countrywide.

He said, Chairman, ECDE is the foundation for our learners. It is the feeling of the Branch Executive Committee (BEC) that TSC employ ECDE teachers, since it is a constitutional body mandated to recruit and remunerate teachers in Kenya.”

The teachers thanked the County of Kericho Governor, Dr Erick Mutai, and the Members of the County Assembly for employing 1200 ECD teachers on Permanent and Pensionable terms. They said the initiative had been replicated in many counties in the country.

The report read in part, “This is the first County in Kenya to offer ECDE teachers an attractive package. They are remunerated as follows: Certificate holders earn Kshs. 25,000 per month, degree holders take home Kshs. 35,000 per month while Degree holders earn Kshs. 44,000 per month.”

The branch executive committee encourages the county government to consider employing more ECDE teachers and give them an annual increment.

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On Capitation, Rop said the union had noted with considerable concern the continued delay in the disbursement of capitation funds to schools, which has been scaled down to Kshs. 84 per learner, which he observed was “a mockery and will always compromise on service delivery and quality of education.”

He sadly observed that Principals and head teachers were facing hard times due to monetary payment demands from school suppliers and urged the Ministry of Education to increase capitation and ensure the money was disbursed in good time.

The Executive Secretary told the AGM that the 254 Promotion vacancies, which were availed nationally, especially for headteachers who have stagnated in one job group, were a drop in the ocean, and the BEC called for an increase in the vacancies to be advertised.

“Though the promotion of 2025 improved compared to 2024, the parameters used should also be looked into. Career progression guidelines should also be revised to make it easy for teachers to rise from one grade to another. Mr. Chairman, it is our appeal to TSC to issue promotion letters to the 25,000 teachers who were promoted last year, “said Mr. Rop.

The union called upon its medical cover provider, MINET, to improve on its speed of disbursing payment, saying some teachers, who were being attended to medically, had been forced to spend one or two days in the facilities because of the delays.

He said teacher discipline in the region was good and lauded efforts by Imarisha Sacco to fund Rehabilitation Centres for teachers affected by alcohol and drug abuse, saying there was a positive change.

By Benedict Ngétich