Teachers' unions have opposed a government directive to reclassify areas gazette hardship, warning that thousands of teachers stand to lose critical allowances without proper consultation or notice.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet) have accused the government of sidelining key stakeholders in the decision that could be potentially disruptive to the education sector.
The backlash follows revelations by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi that the government plans to implement a 2019 report aimed at rationalising hardship zones to save Sh6 billion annually across the public service by reducing payments from Sh25 billion to Sh19 billion.
Teachers form the single-largest group of government employees, with thousands of them stationed in areas gazette as hardship and therefore earn a hardship allowance (30 percent of basic salary).
However, teachers’ unions have criticised the abrupt nature of move noting that teachers learned about the reclassification plan through media reports.
“This kind of action can be very dangerous for employees. If a place has to be removed from hardship, that notice has to come in very good time so that people can adjust,” said Collins Oyuu, the secretary-general of Knut.
The review of hardship areas means that the hardship allowances accorded to civil servants and specifically teachers in those areas will be at stake.
Over the years, hardship allowances have served as a critical incentive for public servants to accept postings in remote and understaffed regions under challenging conditions.
“Most of our members are servicing loans and if this allowance is what was cushioning them, then removing it is very inhuman,” Mr Oyuu said, noting that while the issue had not officially been communicated, Knut had called an internal committee meeting to discuss the matter.
The Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) has shared similar sentiments noting that touching teacher allowances during hard economic times is unfair and uncalled for.
“Any allowance on unionised members can only be reviewed by the two parties that signed the Collective Bargaining Agreement — in this case, the union and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). Any other party is a stranger,” said KUSNET secretary-general James Torome.
He emphasised that the CBAs are legally binding and registered agreements that cannot be unilaterally altered.
“KUSNET as an organisation has not been consulted and if they try to push this down our throats, they are inviting teachers to the streets,” Mr Torome warned, citing Article 41 of the Constitution, which guarantees fair labour practices.
He noted that an upward review of hardship allowance was a key proposal by the union in the 2025-2029 CBA whose negotiations are yet to commence.
Further, the unions warned that stripping teachers of hardship allowances would hurt morale and staffing in the affected areas, many of which already struggle with teacher shortages and high attrition rates.
In his address to Parliament last week, Mr Mudavadi insisted the review of designated hardship areas is necessary to harmonise disparities in the public service.
“To promote fairness, equity and parity among employees, the government did constitute an interagency technical committee to address the disparities in the designated hardship areas,” he said.
Currently, the civil service, county governments and State corporations categorise 16 hardship areas. The Judicial Service Commission has 21 while the teaching service has 44.
Mr Mudavadi told Parliament that the new classification was informed by field visits, county statistics, socio-economic data, poverty indices, and reports from agencies such as the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the Commission on Revenue Allocation(CRA).
The report on reclassification on designated hardship areas was drafted in 2019. Although it has never been implemented, Mr Mudavadi said it will finally be done. The report has been submitted to the Head of Public Service for gazettement, pending Cabinet approval.
According to Mr Mudavadi, the KNBS provided parameters to guide the inter-agency technical committee in reviewing designated hardship areas. These parameters include food, water, transport and communication services, social services, climate and terrain, security and the poverty index.
