Strike
With the looming teachers’ strike expected to start on Monday next week, parents in Nyeri have asked the government and the teachers unions to take immediate action to avert the industrial action.
Those who spoke to KNA have expressed their concerns over the slow pace of progress between the two parties to resolve the issues. They have argued the continued back and forth will only not paralyze Term 3 learning, but will deal a negative blowto the overall performance of candidates waiting to write their national examinations at the end of this year.
The 2024 third term is scheduled to run from August 26 to October 25. This means that learners have 9 weeks to complete the syllabus before the national exams kickoff. Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Intermediate Level Education Assessment (KILEA) are slated for October 28 to 31, followed by the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations from November 4 to November 22.
For Grace Nyambura whose two children will be taking the KPSEA and KSCE, the looming strike has left her in a precarious situation. Nyambura says she is worried that should the government allow teachers keep their word on Monday, the strike will have a negative implication on the learners who are preparing to report for their third term especially candidates who will be writing the national examinations.
“I’m deeply worried about how a strike might affect my children’s preparations for their exams and their overall academic performance. This is a crucial time for these children so you can imagine how the slightest disruption could severely derail their academic progress,” she said.
James Kimani, a parent expressed concern over the delay by the government to address the teachers’ demands despite being aware of the teachers’ demands since 2021.While blaming the government for failing to prioritize, Kimani said the government must redeem itself by prioritizing the impending strike to avoid causing disruptions in the education sector.
“The government has really failed us by failing to meet the demands raised by these teachers and this will directly impact our children’s education. Teachers are the backbone of the education system, and it’s clear they are struggling so we cannot say that we have a working system. Their needs should be heard as a matter of priority for them to continue delivering quality education to our children,” stated Kimani.
Joy Wanjiru, a business owner, said that the continued stalemate on whether or not the strike will go on has left many parents like her confused about the future of their children’s education. Wanjiru said she is torn between preparing to release her children to report to school next week and waiting for the unions and the government to give the way forward on the fate of learning in schools.
“It’s incredibly stressful for parents because we don’t know what will happen. For me, even if I manage to put together the fees, there’s no guarantee that the school will be operational or that my child will receive the education they deserve when they report to school next week. I can only hope for the best that the two parties agree for the sake of our children,” said Wanjiru.
On Monday, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) stated that they will be joining their counterparts, Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) in the strike on August 26. In the letter by KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori, said that the decision to join the industrial action was informed by the government’s continued failure to fully implement the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Both unions have insisted that in addition to honouring terms of the CBA, the government must promote the 130,000 teachers who have stagnated in their current job grades within this financial year. They are also demanding the immediate confirmation of all current Junior Secondary School intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms and the full payment of the salaries which they say should be backdated to July this year.
“We also demand the recruitment of 20,000 teachers on permanent and pensionable terms to address the huge deficit in Junior Secondary Schools,” stated the unions while issuing a strike notice on August 7.
As a condition for them to resume teaching, the unions also want the government and the Teachers Service Commission(TSC) to resolve the collapse of teachers’ medical cover and resolve the non-remittance of loans and National Social Security Fund deductions from teachers by their employer, TSC.
According to the Nyeri branch KUPPET executive secretary Francis Wanjohi, the continued non-remittance of statutory deduction and loans by TSC has left many of the union members in a predicament.
Wanjohi told KNA that teachers are now being forced to dig deeper into their pockets to access health services following the collapse of their Minet health cover. Regarding loan repayment by union members, Wanjohi said that despite religiously deducting loan repayment from their salaries, TSC has continuously failed to remit the deductions to their lenders, leaving the teachers in a fix with their lenders.
“We cannot access medical services because our medical scheme collapsed yet we continue to contribute to a health scheme. The TSC has also decided to embarrass its employees in Saccos and in banks as we now have teachers named on the Credit Reference Bureau for defaulting on loans and yet the money is being deducted from our salaries. Clearly we cannot continue to operate like this,” stated Wanjohi.
With both parties remaining with one year before the lapse of the 2021-2025 CBA, the unions are further demanding a commitment from the government to a new CBA with the teachers. Wanjohi says that the ball is now squarely in the government’s court adding that they will have no choice but to call off the strike when the government honours all their demands.
“If the government agrees to meet all the listed demands, we will have no reason to proceed with the strike,” stated Wanjohi.