Schools paralysed as teachers demand fresh salary talks with Labour minister

Pupils from Our Lady of Mercy Primary School in South B, Nairobi County, walking home from school during the teachers strike on January 5, 2015. PHOTO | SAMMY KIMATU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Most students who had reported to schools across the country were turned away by their teachers, while those who were seeking admission were served by headteachers.
  • The Teachers Service Commission (TSC), which employs the tutors, has directed headteachers to keep a daily attendance record and submit reports every evening to the director of teacher management at the TSC headquarters in Nairobi.
  • Education Permanent Secretary Belio Kipsang’ also asked county directors of education to ensure that students, teachers and school property are protected and secured and that the learning environment is conducive.

Learning in public schools was paralysed on Monday when teachers stayed away as the new term opened, in spite of a threat that they will not be paid for the days they will be on strike.

Union officials vowed to push on with the strike and declared that they would only negotiate with the Ministry of Labour.

Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi said he would invite the union officials for a meeting Tuesday morning while his Education counterpart, Prof Jacob Kaimenyi, told the teachers to respect a court order suspending the strike and return to work.

Most students who had reported to schools across the country were turned away by their teachers, while those who were seeking admission were served by headteachers.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC), which employs the tutors, has directed headteachers to keep a daily attendance record and submit reports every evening to the director of teacher management at the TSC headquarters in Nairobi.

Education Permanent Secretary Belio Kipsang’ also asked county directors of education to ensure that students, teachers and school property are protected and secured and that the learning environment is conducive.

“Liaise with county directors of TSC to ensure that all teachers, headteachers and principals of learning institutions are on duty and supervising learning,” read a memo copied to Chief Of Staff and Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, Prof Kaimenyi and TSC Secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni.

REPORT FOR DUTY

Mr Lengoiboni warned that those who failed to report for duty will not be paid for the days they will not have worked. He also recalled all county and sub-county directors of education who were on leave and asked them to report for work today.

“Field officers are directed to urgently put in place mechanisms to monitor the opening of schools and performance of duties by all teachers employed by the commission,” Mr Lengoiboni said in a statement.

He said the officers should ensure that all teachers report to school in line with the term dates set by the Education Ministry. They should also ensure that teachers perform their duties in accordance with their code of regulations.

“No teachers will be attended to in any of the TSC offices without written permission from the head of their institution,” said the statement.

The recalled officials will be required to ensure that headteachers supervise teaching and learning in all schools in their respective regions.

IMMEDIATE EFFECT

Headteachers who have been transferred or redeployed have also been directed to hand over their current stations and report to their new ones with immediate effect.

Mr Lengoiboni insisted that the teachers’ strike was illegal because the Industrial Court had given an order outlawing it. He said the negotiations on the terms and conditions of service for teachers were ongoing and a meeting was scheduled for Friday this week.

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi asked the teachers to respect the court order.

“We still expect and appeal to parents to take their children to school and teachers should be available to teach,” he said.

However, the secretary-general of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), Mr Wilson Sossion, said no amount of intimidation would force union members to call off the strike.

“I want to thank the parents of the Republic of Kenya for keeping their children at home and the teachers of this country for boycotting work,” he said, adding that teachers will not return to work unless they sign a collective bargaining agreement with their employer.

“The strike is successful and I doubt if we can sit with TSC and get the solution alone. What miracles are they going to perform that they failed to do in the 26 meetings?” he asked as he stated that only the Labour Ministry could resolve the impasse.

STARTED SUCCESSFULLY

Mr Akelo Misori, the secretary-general of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) said the strike had started successfully and would continue until teachers’ demands are addressed. He said the basic pay for teachers should be increased.

“When you offer a teacher a mortgage of Sh10 million and he or she has less than 10 years of service, that mortgage will definitely not benefit him or her,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) official has said that the strike would have been averted had Mr Kambi taken his rightful role as an arbiter.

In a statement, Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli said the Labour CS had remained silent when his services were needed most.

“Both Knut and Kuppet have gone public that they informed and called for the Labour Ministry’s intervention as early as October last year through their letters to the Ministry; it is sad that the Cabinet secretary never bothered to intervene,” said Mr Atwoli.

In a related development, there were reports that Mr Kambi was to meet Parliament’s Labour and Social Welfare Committee to explain what the ministry was doing to end the strike.

Parliamentary committees are on recess and are expected back to work on January 26. The urgency of the teachers’ strike could, however, prompt the committee to convene crisis talks.