By Roy Hezron
Vihiga Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers’ (Kuppet) Executive Secretary Sabala Inyeni has welcomed the move by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to give advantage to interns during the teachers’ recruitment process.
Speaking to Education News most recently, Sabala termed the move as a step in the right direction to motivate teachers who were in the internship programme.
“Some of the unemployed teachers have been reluctant to serve as interns because of the low pay. This is a deliberate move to professionalize the teaching service and weed out graduates who join the teaching service after they are done with the private sector”, said Sabala.
Teachers who had served as interns were given 30 marks on the marking scheme, giving them a clear head start in the final tally.
Sabala asked the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate the happenings at Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) saying examiners of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education had not been fully paid.
“We are asking the office of the DCI and the EACC to investigate the happenings at KNEC. As a union, we are afraid that monies meant to pay examiners may have been diverted to other projects”, stated Sabala.
He stated that examiners are usually paid in two installments but this year, KNEC divided the payments into three installments with the last installment yet to be paid four months after the completion of the marking exercise.
“This year, the conditions were even worse, considering that examiners had travel challenges posed by COVID-19 lockdown. It is also sad to report that some of our examiners who risked their lives to turn up for this national duty have since passed on before receiving their dues. KNEC should pay these dues without further delay, failure to which we will advise our members to pull out of this exercise in future”. Sabala stated.
