Sossion should forget about strike, appraisal, delocalization are in the CBA

Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Wilson Sossion joins teachers in a demonstration outside the union's offices in Nairobi on September 7, 2015. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • To his grievance on delocalisation, Mr Sossion has added the teacher appraisal programme, which is in its third year of implementation.

  • A CBA provides the framework for engagement on financial and non-financial matters and, therefore, formalises the contractual obligations of the parties.

  • Primarily, a CBA exists to ensure industrial harmony by clarifying the different obligations of the parties within a given time frame.

For some time now, Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary-general Wilson Sossion has, without evidence, attempted to link the few incidents of the recent cases of student unrest in secondary schools to the delocalisation of principals.

Those familiar with the history of school strikes in Kenya and the documented research will easily tell that the view advanced by Mr Sossion is both erroneous and misleading.

Since 1974, when the initial cases of school unrest were experienced, the government has relentlessly initiated reforms in the management of learning institutions to respond to specific emerging issues.

To his grievance on delocalisation, Mr Sossion has added the teacher appraisal programme, which is in its third year of implementation.

Strangely, he has even threatened to call a strike at the beginning of the third term next month without explaining the legal and industrial basis for that.

DELOCALISATION

For whatever reason, Mr Sossion has all along avoided informing teachers that the provisions on delocalisation and teacher appraisal are part of the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed between the teachers’ employer, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), and the two teachers unions — Knut and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) — which have a recognition agreement with TSC.

Specifically, the provisions on delocalisation and teacher appraisal are contained in Clause 4 of the CBA and also in the Code of Regulations for Teachers (2015).

The contractual and binding nature of the entire CBA was affirmed when it was signed by unions’ representatives, who included Mr Sossion, and later registered at the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) last November.

INDUSTRIAL HARMONY

The importance and centrality of a CBA in governing the relationship between and employer and its employees cannot be gainsaid.

A CBA provides the framework for engagement on financial and non-financial matters and, therefore, formalises the contractual obligations of the parties.

Primarily, a CBA exists to ensure industrial harmony by clarifying the different obligations of the parties within a given time frame.

Until 2016, when the TSC signed the first ever CBAs with Knut and Kuppet, the teaching service was plagued by numerous strikes, which disrupted teaching and learning almost every year. After the signing of CBAs, industrial peace was restored and school programmes, including national examinations, ran according to schedule.

It is, therefore, disturbing that, of late, Mr Sossion has persistently attempted to invent a dispute where none exists. As a matter of fact, there is no ambiguity whatsoever in the CBAs regarding delocalisation and teacher appraisal.

ENSURE EQUITY

On the delocalisation of institutional administrators, the provision plainly states: “In undertaking deployment, the Commission shall endeavour to de-localise the administration of public educational institutions”. Except for the term, there is nothing new to it.

Since its inception in 1967, the TSC has always offered employment to teachers and posted them to work in any part of the country where their services may be required. That is to ensure equity in provision of teaching services and quality instruction.

By making provisions on teacher appraisal, the TSC simply institutionalised an accountability system to enhance measurable quality teaching. Fortunately, most teachers have embraced the system and, overall, a positive impact has been registered.

To a very large extent, teacher absenteeism has been curbed as the system has an in-built mechanism to monitor school and class attendance. Teachers now routinely prepare schemes of work and lesson plans and, in effect, step into classrooms when they are better prepared to teach.

APPRAISAL

Long before the appraisal was negotiated, the unions participated in the formulation and development of the programme in 2014 and 2015 — including a 2014 benchmarking trip to the United Kingdom, where Knut was represented by its then-chairman Mudzo Nzili. The unions, together with headteachers association representatives, also took part in a pilot programme in six counties.

It is, therefore, dishonest and mischievous of Mr Sossion to invent grievances on issues that had been agreed on. Characteristically, any CBA has an in-built mechanism to address any emerging issues that may arise in the course of implementation. It does not include calls to strike.

More than anybody else, Mr Sossion knows that teachers are not likely to heed to strike calls on matters that are, clearly, settled.

They know it would be an unnecessarily perilous journey not worth travelling.

Mr Kamotho is head of Corporate Communications, Teachers Service Commission.