Relief for teachers as TSC and KNUT strike a pay deal

The Teachers Service Commission and the Kenya National Union of Teachers have signed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will see at least 106,000 teachers promoted.

Under the deal, the P1 teachers will be promoted to Group H with the lowest paid teacher in the category banking between Ksh19,323 and Ksh24,662 per month.

In a deal that emerged at the end of a two-day retreat for the union and the commission at Sawela Lodge in Naivasha, Primary School heads, their deputies, principals and their deputies were the biggest winners after TSC recognized their role in management of schools.

KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion said that the agreement would change positively the lives of the teachers and education standards in the country.

Mr Sossion, who had threatened to stage countrywide protests, has hailed the agreement, which takes affect on the 1st of July next year as a major win for teachers, who have been demanding better terms of service.

“The P1 grade which is the entry level for all teachers has been scrapped and all the teachers on that level promoted thus meaning a salary increase for them,” he said.

He added that they would continue to review the CBA, which is the first to be signed by teachers in the country’s history.

“Under the CBA we shall no longer have the industrial unrest that has been the norm among teachers and we expect the education standards to improve,” he said.

On his part, KNUT Chairman Mudzo Nzili said that they were not coerced into signing the agreement that he termed as a major milestone in the profession.

He thanked the head of state Uhuru Kenyatta for initiating talks on the CBA, adding that the terms and services for teachers would be improved.

“The talks were open and the CBA is historic in the country as it’s the first of its kind among teachers,” he said.

Reading the resolutions, TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia said that the CBA had recognized the need to upgrade the lowest entry of a teacher.

She added that the agreement had also expanded the grading structure of the top cadre of all the teachers.

“The CBA has created distinct career paths for all teachers and this will ensure that both the teachers in administrative and non-administrative positions have clear career progression paths,” she said.

On her part, TSC chair Lydia Nzomo noted that for the last nine years industrial strikes had been the norm in the sector, but was quick to note that this would now end.

“We want to thank all the government agencies that made this exercise a success and we expect the agreement to address education standards and syllabus,” she said.

Story written by Wangui Ngechu