The Secretary General Kenya National Union of Teachers Collins Oyuu speaks to delegates during an annual conference in Mombasa on December 10, 2024.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has claimed that the delocalisation policy that was stopped in 2022 is being carried out clandestinely and asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to reconsider its ways of promoting teachers.
While outlining issues expected to form part of their 2025-2029 collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the secretary-general of Knut Collins Oyuu indicated that some teachers were being promoted only on condition that they will agree to serve in specific regions.
Speaking at the union's delegates' conference in Mombasa, Mr Oyuu said the idea of using promotions as a backdoor to delocalisation would not be allowed by the union.
He said there are cases where teachers had been given promotions that required them to move from the counties they serve, an idea that was still pushing for the delocalisation that they have rejected.
“The government has set up an extra Sh1 billion for promotion. The TSC boss has not mentioned, but we do not want it to be a way into delocalisation through the back door. You are a teacher in Mombasa, let the position be advertised in Mombasa so that you are promoted here,” said Mr Oyuu.
The delocalisation policy which started in 2018 to transfer teachers who had overstayed in one region was reversed two years ago after an outcry by unions.
On the same note, the delegates discussed and agreed as outlined in their recommendations that no teacher should serve in an acting capacity for a position beyond their job group.
According to Knut, the idea of serving in such positions left the teachers in a disadvantaged position.
The teachers noted that when the positions are eventually filled, those who were in an acting position are not considered because of their lower job group.
“Teachers have been awarded acting positions but you cannot act in a position where your grade is not near the grade required for that capacity and the acting capacity cannot exceed six months,” said Mr Oyuu.
The teachers expressed confidence that implementation of their recommendations would enable union members to perform their duties more effectively.
The conference happened two weeks after Knut officials met with a team from the TSC in Naivasha to address contentious clauses in the anticipated five-year CBA.
Speaking at the delegates conference in Mombasa, TSC CEO Nancy Macharia expressed confidence that all matters arising will be handled amicably with the teachers.
According to Ms Macharia, the cordial relationship between the two parties has set a proper environment to chart ways of improving the education sector.
On matters of Grade Nine transition, both the ministry and teachers' employer said that they were ready.
The TSC assured parents that it would deploy tutors for the rollout of Grade 9 in January 2025, despite spot checks by Nation showing some level of unpreparedness.
Ms Macharia said the commission was on the right path to deliver tutors who will attend the pioneer class next year.
“Due to cordial industrial relations between the commission, the union and other stakeholders, we have retooled over 300,000 teachers to equip them with requisite content, skills, competences, values and attitudes to implement the new curriculum,” said Ms Macharia.
The ministry, through a speech read by the Coast Region Education Director Joseph Mithamo on behalf of CS Julius Ogamba, said that they had allocated Sh 17.6 billion to the construction of the classes which had to be completed by January 2025.
“At present we are preparing for the Grade 9 final year in primary. 20,000 teachers are being recruited and the ministry has delivered Sh 17.6 billion to build the classes since October. The implementation of CBC is therefore on course,” said the CS in the speech.
Meanwhile, drama unfolded at the conference when Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers demanded positions in the giant union.
The teachers who are yet to join any union urged Knut to allow them in.
However, they demanded 500 national positions within the union nationwide as a condition for their membership.
“As JSS teachers, we have faced numerous challenges that remained unresolved due to the lack of union representation. We were advised to form or join a union to effectively voice our concerns. While we have the option to join Kuppet or Knut, we have specific demands that need to be addressed,” said their representative, who identified himself as Mr Omari.
The hall became unsettled after their remark to be given 500 slots of the up to 40,000 available before joining.
The teachers also urged the union to advocate for shorter internship periods, improved career progression and respectful communication from school heads.
“We would love to talk to Head teachers who are here to understand that most of us are millennials and Generation Z. They should learn and talk to us in a way we understand. We also want a union that is ready to fight for us so that we have career progression after every two years,” said Omari.
Mr Oyuu asked them to be patient as their demands will be discussed.
“When you live longer you see a lot of things. I love this team and we will embrace them and make them members. Their demands will be discussed. I know from them we can have a treasurer, we can have a chairman or even a secretary general," he said.
He however asked the JSS teachers to be prepared to compete with others for available leadership slots.
“There are no positions that are given on a silver platter. They should be ready to compete with others out there,” said Mr Oyuu.
Mr Oyuu stated that if the JSS teachers joined the union, Knut would advocate for them to receive a starting job grade upon hiring, ensuring smoother career progression.
