Pledge is welcome to end impasse over pay

The announcement by Education Minister Fred Matiang’i that teachers will be paid their September salary that was withheld because of the strike is a good start to repairing relations in the sector.

Although President Uhuru Kenyatta brokered a deal about two weeks ago and asked the Teachers Service Commission to release the money and also remit union dues, this has not been effected.

On the contrary, the TSC seems to have engaged reverse gear and last week declared that it would not honour those pledges.

The constant fighting between the TSC and the Kenya National Union of Teachers and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers has created a foul environment that is not conducive to the promotion of education.

Some people at the TSC seem hell-bent on fuelling the crisis.

There are fresh reports that the TSC has sent out a circular in which it seeks to stop headteachers, their deputies, and senior teachers from belonging to unions, arguing that they are managers and should not engage in industrial matters.

Joining a union is a worker’s right that cannot simply be circumscribed by an employer at will.

Unless checked, the rivalry between the TSC and the unions may negatively affect education.

Frustrated and bitter teachers are unlikely to carry out their duties in a dedicated manner.

Already there is speculation that the widespread cheating in the national exams could have partly come about because of a revolt among teachers.

There is a need to calm down tensions in the education sector.

This is why Dr Matiang’i’s announcement is a move in the right direction.

Times have changed and the hard line stance adopted by TSC and the unions must cease.

Let the two parties devise a way of working together that does not necessarily lead to pain and anguish.