By John Majau.
Teachers from Meru and Tharaka-Nithi counties have vowed to go on strike if the Teachers Service Commission fails to meet their demands.
Mutani Njeru and Caxton Miungu who are Tharaka-Nithi and Meru County KNUT branch executive secretaries respectively told the TSC to be prepared for the mother of all the strikes if the employer fails to honour the demands including the halt on the housing scheme, TPAD, delocalisation and the immediate promotion of all the deserving teachers countrywide.
Speaking separately the duo said they fully support the call for strike by the KNUT secretary general Wilson Sossion and urged all their members in the two counties to be prepared to down their tools.
”We are 100 percent behind Sossion call for a strike.I urge teachers in Tharaka-Nithi to start warming themselves up for the strike because there will be no turning back unless the TSC meets our demands.” said Mutani when he addressed the media at his office in Chuka town.
Mutani said that they have established beyond any reasonable doubts that delocalization does not add value to the education sector or even improve education performance in the national examination.
The unionist said the data they have currently from the 2018 KCPE results shows the performance of schools which teachers were delocalized have declined drastically in the academic performance in the national exams.
A total of 54 teachers have been delocalized in Tharaka-Nithi County with 36 of them being secondary school principals while 18 are primary school head teachers.
Mutani said the affected teachers have been transferred to schools in Meru and Embu counties in fresh TSC transfers targeting 3000 teachers countrywide.
Mutani faulted the move arguing that it unfair to transfer teachers who are almost retiring noting that it was likely to break families.
“There is no point moving a school head to as far as Makueni whereas he or she is almost retiring and therefore needs to be close to his or her family,” said the KNUT official.
The unionist said delocalization that requires teachers to work away from their home areas, was de-motivating most of them adding that it was not adding any value to education standards.
“We have noted with concern that schools where teachers were previously transferred performed poorly in this year’s KCPE results,” said Mutani.
Those affected by the transfers are school heads who have served in one school for more than nine years.
Mutani raised concern over the performance contracting that he said was wasting a lot of time and resources for teachers who are supposed to ensure that they cover the syllabus within the term.
The official faulted the teachers employer for failing to heed to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s recent directive to have the delocalization programme reviewed.
The union also wants TSC to promote teachers who have furthered their studies to their rightful jobs.
Expressing similar sentiments his Meru County counterpart Mr Miungi vowed to mobilise teachers in both primary and secondary schools for the strike noting that the TSC should increase the teachers’ salaries by a minimum of 10 percent instead of deducting money for the housing scheme.
Miungi said the national government did not consult the union before deciding to deduct the money and vowed to ensure that no learning takes place next year if the government goes ahead to deduct the housing allowance.
Speaking during a presser in his office in Meru town Miungi called on the government to increase the teachers salary by 10 percent instead of deducting it because teachers have no other source of income.
”Teachers have already committed their salaries elsewhere and they should be left alone. One must be mad to even think of deducting teacher’s salary. Instead it should be increased by 10 percent. We shall mobilize teachers in primary and secondary schools and ensure that no learning takes place.” said Miungi.
