Teachers reject new retirement proposal from SRC

Teachers from the South Rift region have rejected a proposal by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to revert the retirement age of public servants to 55 from 60.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Bomet and Kericho branches have also opposed plans to compel teachers to contribute 12 per cent of their salaries monthly to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

Speaking to Nation.co.ke in separate interviews, Kericho County Knut executive secretary Daniel Chumo and his Bomet counterpart Malel Lang’at termed the proposal by the commission’s chairperson Sarah Serem as “shocking and preposterous” adding that it could cause panic among teachers across the country.

STILL STRONG

Mr Chumo said Mrs Serem’s explanation that teachers should retire while still strong was not adequate and asked the SRC boss to explain where she was when the retirement age was increased to 60 a few years ago.

“Teachers have saved money and are not afraid of retiring at 60 and that plan is here to stay. Any other arrangement will be opposed by all means possible,” he said.

Mr Langat on his part said the SRC plan could soon throw teachers into a state of stress and depression as most of them were not ready to retire at 55.

He said many teachers in the country had taken loans from savings and credit cooperative societies (saccos) and commercial banks which they were unlikely to have paid off by the time they reached 55 years and therefore needed time to offload loans.

LOW CADRE NEGLECTED

He accused Mrs Serem of neglecting low cadre public servants while giving state officers and Members of Parliament the freedom to do whatever they wanted to.

“Why is the SRC being so hard on public servants like teachers when it comes to issues of salaries and then appears to play to the whims of MPs on the same issue?” he asked.

Mr Langat also said the giant teachers union would oppose plans to force teachers to give a monthly contribution of 12 per cent of their gross salary to the National Social Security Fund beginning June just as is the case with the rest of the public service.

He said until now teachers have been exempted from contributing to the NSSF and were considered permanent and pensionable. He said teachers could resort to like strikes if the proposals are implemented.

HUGE LOANS

“This new plan will eat deeply into the already meagre earnings of teachers since we are aware that most of them have been paying off huge loans and do not have extra money for the NSSF. The government should rethink this,” he added.

Mr Chumo also warned of the rising cases of alcoholism among teachers and called on county governments to consider partnering with teacher owned saccos to set up rehabilitation centres.

However, he opposed proposals by a section of leaders that the breathalyser test be introduced in schools to nab teachers who attend classes while drunk, saying this was not likely to deliver the expected results.

ECDE TEACHERS

He also urged county governments to leave the duty of employing Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

He said such a move would ensure that nursery school teachers across the country were working under similar, properly laid out conditions of service. He accused county governments of rushing to take up a duty that may not be unable to sustain for long.

He added that the TSC had the capacity to register ECDE teachers, employ them, promote them and discipline them.

“Until now, we do not know what exactly is happening. When are the teachers retiring? What allowances are they entitled to? It is the wish of Knut that teachers be left fully to the TSC,” he said.

The two trade unionists warned that teacher shortage in their counties ran into thousands and called on the national government to immediately move to employ more teachers.

Mr Langat noted that some county governments had 'unconstitutionally’ stepped in and were now employing teachers in a bid to assist the national government in dealing with the shortage. He told governors to keep off the affairs of teachers.