Teachers asking for too much, says TSC
What you need to know:
- Teachers already receiving allowances that they deserve, employer tells court.
- Police to question Knut boss.
The Teachers Service Commission says it cannot provide all the allowances that teachers are demanding.
Although it has agreed to some of the demands, it has dismissed others as either unjustified or unsustainable.
TSC secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni, in a document filed in court, says teachers given administrative duties who are in job group K and below are already enjoying a responsibility allowance.
He says the commission is undertaking a job evaluation to determine the relative worth of specific jobs and productivity levels.
The evaluation will enable the it to develop compensation criteria based on responsibility levels, Mr Lengoiboni says.
Further, he says TSC is already paying a hardship allowance at 30 per cent of the minimum basic salary per grade.
Teachers are the biggest beneficiaries of the allowance as the government has gazetted 38 hardship areas for them compared to other public officers who only enjoy the allowance in 15 areas, according to the TSC boss.
The unions’ demand for the allowance to be paid at between 30 per cent and 40 per is unjustifiable and unfair to other government workers, he adds.
He has also ruled out payment of a hazard allowance, saying the Work Injury Benefits Act, 2007 already provides an adequate cover.
Meanwhile, Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary-general Wilson Sossion has said he will honour police summons over claims of incitement regarding the last teachers’ strike.
He is scheduled to record a statement with police on Monday. The serious crimes unit at the criminal investigations headquarters summoned him last Friday.
“We are investigating a case of incitement to violence and disobedience of the law and we have reason to believe that you, Mr Wilson Sossion, is connected to the offence,” says a letter sent to him by the police.
Additional reporting by Paul Ogemba
