Knut rejects plan to recruit more contract teachers

Teachers have rejected the government’s plan to hire 20,000 more tutors on contract starting next week.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) dismissed the offer as an “insult and a lack of understanding of the issues facing teachers”. (Read: Government to hire 20,000 teachers on contract basis)

The union’s secretary-general, Mr David Okuta, said that instead of offering a solution, the government had “rubbed salt on teachers’ wounds.”

The government announced on Wednesday it would recruit 60,000 teachers on contract over the next three years.

It is expected that secondary school teachers will be recruited by school boards, while primary school staff will be interviewed by district education boards.

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni said the shortage of teachers had reached crisis levels and urgent measures were needed to ensure quality learning.

At the last count, the commission said it needed to hire 75,000 more teachers to meet the internationally recommended teacher-pupil ratio of 1:40.

The introduction of the Free Primary Education programme in 2003 and free day secondary school project in 2008 raised enrolment but did not come with more teachers and classrooms.

As a result, classes are congested, with some having more than 100 pupils.

The ministry introduced contracts last year, but this has turned out to be too short-term a decision to effectively tackle the staffing crisis, which has also opened up a new battleground, culminating in the strike that has paralysed learning in public schools since Monday.

The decision to hire more teachers on contract was reached on Wednesday evening at a meeting chaired by President Kibaki and attended by Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Education minister Sam Ongeri.

It proposed that the 18,060 teachers employed on contract last year be put on permanent and pensionable terms at the expiry of their three-year contracts in 2013.

Prof Ongeri, who addressed the media after the talks, said those on contract would be considered first in filling vacancies arising from death and retirement.

But Knut said the talks were invalid as the TSC was not involved.

“This is an independent constitutional body and it is the only one to deal with teachers’ issues. We expect TSC to table a deal and to engage us directly and not the minister,” said Mr Okuta.

Mr Kenyattta told Parliament on Wednesday that the government had no money to employ more teachers.

On Thursday, Mr Okuta said the government had money to satisfy their demands. “The government is never broke. It can only be unwilling and insensitive.”

If the strike continues, it is likely to affect preparations for national examinations which begin next month.

Some practical examinations for subjects like Agriculture in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) start this month.