The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has been allocated Sh13 billion in the 2024/25 budget estimates for implementation of the second phase of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) it signed with unions last year, and an extra Sh1 billion for teachers promotions.
The pay rise of between 7 per cent and 9.5 per cent of the basic salary was spread over two years, with the first instalment paid in August last year. Teachers also benefited from enhanced house allowances.
After the unions struck the deal with TSC, they added it as an addendum to the 2021-2025 CBA that did not have a monetary component.
Once again, the commission will get the lions’ share of the education sector budget, with a total allocation of Sh364.9 billion, up from Sh316.7 billion in the current budget. However, the National Treasury has shaved off Sh5.033 billion from the what was contained in the Budget Policy Statement.
The allocated funds include Sh8.3 billion for the conversion from contract to permanent and pensionable terms for 26,000 teachers in January next year. Most of these teachers are in the junior secondary school section and will have served for two years by the end of the year. Of the total, 4,000 are primary school teachers and the other 22,000 secondary school teachers.
This will leave out 20,000 others who will not have served for two years as required by the commission. There is also a plan to recruit 100 tutors for post-secondary institutions.
The promotions budget is targeted to benefit 9,000 primary school teachers and 3,000 of their counterparts in secondary schools. The last promotions were done this year but left out thousands of teachers.
The teachers’ employer has been allocated Sh4.68 billion to hire 20,000 more teachers on contract. This would bring the total number of teachers recruited by the Kenya Kwanza government to 76,000.
Employing 58,000 teachers
The manifesto of the coalition promised to bridge the teachers gap, which stood at 116,000, by employing 58,000 teachers at a cost of Sh25 billion per year. If such funds were to be allocated, all the teachers would be hired on permanent and pensionable terms.
The government started recruiting teachers on one-year contracts in 2019 under the “internship” programme. However, the teachers currently on contract have protesting demanding to be absorbed under permanent and pensionable terms, following a court ruling in their favour. The commission obtained orders to stay implementation of the judgment until August. It is also appealing it.
The TSC has made its presentation to the Departmental Committee on Education and Research of the National Assembly for consideration. Of the new teachers to be hired on contract, the TSC targets to deploy 18,000 in secondary schools and 2,000 in primary schools. The numbers are planned for 2025 and 2026.
“The education sector will continue to address the ongoing curriculum reforms with a focus on teacher capacity development, e-learning, innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and talent development. Accordingly, the commission will continue to recruit additional teachers for the smooth implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum. Specifically, the recruitment will target to address the requirements of both junior and senior schools with focus on the new learning areas,” TSC’s report reads.
