Teachers to pay for their pension

The government plans to introduce a contributory pension scheme for teachers that will compel them to dig into their pockets to fund the retirement benefits.

The proposal, according to Education assistant minister Calist Mwatela, aims at making the teachers’ pension scheme similar to that of employees in the private sector.

But Mr Mwatela did not disclose if the teachers would be required to contribute an equal amount to that of their employer in the new scheme, or otherwise.

Currently, the teachers are on a free pension scheme whereby it is only the government that contributes towards their retirement benefits.

“We are now working on a proposal that will ensure that both the teachers and the government share in the contribution of their pension scheme,” Mr Mwatela said on Thursday.

He noted that the proposal was meant to improve the life of the teachers after service following concerns that some had been condemned to poverty in their retirement.

This comes at a time when 31,082 teachers will finally receive Sh3.34 billion as part of their benefits after Parliament approved a resolution calling on the government to release the money.

This followed a court case in which the teachers sought to have the government factor in a salary increment they were offered in 1997.

Release pension

This increase had not been factored in the pension scheme they were awarded, which was only based on their last salary earned before retirement.

In 2003, the teachers further negotiated another salary increase agreement, which has since been fully honoured but the amounts in the teachers’ pensions had not reflected such increments.

On Wednesday, Parliament questioned why the retirees had not been paid their money leading to a directive sent to the government to remit the money.

“Anybody pretending to be withholding the pension money should have gone to court because it is illegal not to pay pension. I fully agree with Parliament that the teachers should be paid now,” Mr Mwatela said.

He spoke at St George’s Primary School in Nairobi where he launched the “Healthy Kids Programme” aimed at improving the nutritional health of pupils to boost their performance.

The plan by food company Nestlé aims at reaching 3,500 children in 15 schools in Nairobi in the pilot phase before rolling out to other schools across the country.

Mr Mwatela asked school managers to spend the free education money correctly reiterating that the government had laid out mechanisms to detect embezzlement.