Teachers will, from next week, receive new improved salaries as part of the fourth and final phase of the Sh54 billion collective bargaining agreement (CBA) their unions negotiated with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in October 2016.
However, thousands of teachers will have little to smile about as this phase mostly favours senior school administrators, leaving out the majority of the teaching force.
The CBA appears to have left the lower cadre teachers holding the short end of the stick as they were also not beneficiaries of last year’s pay increment, and last enjoyed an increase two years ago when their part of the deal was concluded.
The deal has since seen some of the teachers’ pay more than triple and reduced union calls to strike.
Chief principals, senior principals, principals and their deputies in secondary schools together with senior masters are the biggest beneficiaries of the latest pay rise, with the highest increment going to principals in Job Group D3 (formerly M and in some cases N). They will now all earn a basic salary of Sh104,644 per month.
The salary of the lowest paid principal has risen by 151 per cent, from Sh41,590. These are the school heads in sub-county and all-day secondary schools.
Teachers are eagerly waiting to see their July payslips to understand how the implementation of this last phase will affect their earnings.
The Nation understands that the payslips have already been processed and will be uploaded onto the teachers’ portal anytime.
Some 103,634 members of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) will particularly be anxious to find out if their employer will extend the CBA benefits their way after they were excluded from last years’ raise at the eleventh hour.
The move resulted from TSC’s interpretation of a court ruling that was in favour of Knut in an industrial dispute involving the two parties over teachers’ career progression. The case had been filed by TSC to stop a looming teachers’ job boycott.
Knut secretary-general Wilson Sossion has demanded the payment of all teachers who were on the payroll in 2017 when the agreement came into force, saying, it’s their legal right.
“It is against international labour practices for an employer to withhold teachers’ salaries when the finances have been budgeted for,” Mr Sossion said, while noting that Parliament appropriated funds to pay all teachers. He challenged TSC to explain how the money was spent.
Members of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (Kuppet) as well as those who did not belong to any union enjoyed the pay raise.
The move saw many teachers quit Knut, but the union has maintained that its members were expunged from its register by TSC.
A further 3,800 teachers, currently working at technical and vocational education institutions, were left out in phase three after they were transferred to the Public Service Commission in 2018.
“The teachers benefited from the first and second phase of the CBA before their transfers and upon their transfer, Kuppet was assured their perks under the CBA would not be affected,” said Kuppet Secretary-General Akello Misori.
The lowest paid chief principals (heads of national and extra county schools with over 1,000 learners) currently on Sh121,814 per month, will have an extra Sh9,566 added to their pay monthly for the next one year.
The highest earners in this group at Sh157,656 will not have any increment. They last enjoyed a pay rise in 2018.
Before the CBA was signed, the lowest paid chief principal earned Sh89,748, while the highest was on Sh144,928.
As the senior teachers enjoy the enhanced pay, there is uncertainty over a new CBA, which would uplift their lower cadre colleagues.
Both Kuppet and Knut have submitted their proposals to TSC, but they are yet to be invited to the negotiating table.
The lowest paid senior principals (heads of county schools with over 540 students) who currently earn Sh109,249 will from this month earn Sh118,242.
The administrators in this category have seen their salaries improve by 53 per cent since the signing of the CBA as they used to earn Sh77,527.
The highest paid senior principal will take home Sh121,890 at salary point 7. Senior principals are in Job Group D4, formerly Group P.
The lowest paid teachers in Job Group C5 also stand to win big with Sh10,640 added to their monthly pay.
This group includes head teachers of primary schools whose institutions have less than 1,000 learners alongside deputy heads of primary schools with over 1,000 learners and Senior Master III, who are administrators in sub-county and all day secondary schools.
These have been the biggest beneficiaries of the CBA, having seen their salaries rise by 273 per cent in the four years.
At the signing of the deal, the lowest paid in the group used to earn Sh16,692. All teachers in the group will now earn a basic pay of Sh62,272.
On top of the basic salary, teachers earn other allowances, like house, hardship and commuter, which are based on the regions they work in, and also leave allowance.
Teachers who are deployed in gazetted hardship areas earn a hardship allowance that ranges between Sh6,600 to Sh38,100.
Visually-impaired teachers and those on wheelchairs earn Sh15,000 readers/facilitation/aid allowance.
