Kuppet, DP William Ruto differ on school opening date

Deputy President William Ruto and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) have differed over the new dates for opening schools.

While Ruto called on teachers to return to school on Monday as directed by the Employment and Labour Relations court, Kuppet urged its members to stay put until the pay increment issue is sorted.

Speaking in PCEA Bahati in Nairobi, Ruto urged teachers to put the interest of students first and return to school for the beginning of the third term.

Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori said the strike is still on, adding that teachers will not go back to class until their employer Teachers Service Commission (TSC) withdraws a petition they had filed at the Court of Appeal disputing the 50-60 per cent salary increment.

Ruto’s sentiments have been echoed by Dagoretti North MPs Dennis Waweru and his Kamukunji counterpart Yusuf Hassan who accompanied Ruto in a church service in Nairobi.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has also given Teachers Service Commission (TSC) an ultimatum to withdraw an appeal it had filed in court before suspending its strike.

Speaking on Saturday, KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion has written to the TSC and Attorney General Githu Muigai seeking a response on the matter before charting the way forward.

Sossion said KNUT is willing to comply with Friday’s court ruling to resume duty but their decision is dependent on TSC’s withdrawal of the appeal before Justice Nduma Nderi as directed in the ruling.

This comes after Labour Court Judge Nelson Abuodha ordered teachers to suspend their four-week-old strike for 90 days to allow for talks with the government.

The government has already issued a statement ordering the re-opening of all private and public schools on Monday, September 28th.

In the announcement made on Friday, the Ministry of Education said that no schools should levy any extra fees on parents in the pretext of covering costs occasioned by the pay dispute.

“Following the four week long teachers’ strike, the third term has been extended by a week and there will be no half-term break,” read the statement in part.

The statement puts opening dates on September 28th and closing date on November 20th.