Members of Parliament have reignited the debate on the criteria for paying teachers' hardship allowances, calling on the Ministry of Education to review the policy to address inequalities.
In a document sent to the Ministry of Education, the lawmakers set out the reforms they want implemented, stating that the review would reduce inequities and staff attrition in disadvantaged areas.
“The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Teachers Service Commission, addresses staffing gaps by accelerating recruitment, rationalisation, and deployment of teachers, while reviewing hardship allowance policies to reduce inequities and staff attrition in disadvantaged regions,” MPs say.
In addition to the hardship allowance, the lawmakers want the Ministry of Education to review and rationalise infrastructure investment in order to correct regional imbalances.
This should include ensuring fair access to learning facilities, laboratories and diverse senior school pathways across all school clusters, particularly in rural areas and C4 schools.
The lawmakers have tasked the Committee on Education with periodically comparing notes with the Ministry on the steps taken to implement the proposals.
“The Departmental Committee on Education undertakes continuous oversight of the implementation of these resolutions and obtains periodic progress reports from the Ministry of Education on financing, infrastructure, staffing, enforcement, and equity outcomes,” MPs say.
The hardship allowance disparity was raised last year in the House by Nyando MP Jared Okelo who pointed out that many constituencies have been left out by the government while considering areas to be classified as hardship areas.
In his petition, Mr Okelo said despite many constituencies experiencing lack of infrastructure, making them difficult areas for teachers to work in, the Teachers Service Commission has for many years not categosised them as such.
The lawmakers complained that such a move disenfranchise the areas with teachers preferring areas with hardship allowances.
When he appeared before the plenary last year, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi informed the National Assembly that the government was reviewing the classification of hardship areas.
“I wish to inform the House that the implementation of the Inter-Agency Technical Committee report will reduce the financial implication for payment of hardship allowance from Sh25 billion to Sh19 billion per annum, thereby making a saving of Sh6 billion to the government. This is as a result of the proposed harmonization of the designated hardship areas in the public service,” Mr Mudavadi said.
Mr Mudavadi was referring to a report of the Inter-Agency Technical Committee that conducted a stakeholder engagement on among other things the study of policies that govern the classification of hardship areas and the payment of such allowances in the public service.
However, in July last year, Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku announced that the government has halted implementation of the report following a wave of public outcry from teachers, civil servants and political leaders across the country.
Mr Ruku said they have jointly with the Ministry of Education decided to hold the implementation of the report on hardship classification to allow for a re-evaluation of exercise aimed at redefining areas eligible for hardship allowances.
“We have decided to hold on to the report for now. We need to re-evaluate the report together with the stakeholders and elected leaders before its implementation,” Mr Ruku said.
Currently, the Civil Service, county governments and State Corporations have 16 areas designated as hardship, the teaching service has 44 while the Judiciary has 21
The question on how the government classifies hardship areas for Civil Servants and in particular teachers was raised in the House by Nyando MP Jared Okelo last month
The lawmakers have complained that the government classification of hardship areas is skewed, discriminatory and should be reviewed to reflect the current realities of life.
Hardship areas are remote areas categorized as lacking or having inadequate basic social services, amenities and infrastructure, such as food, water, transport and communication services, social services, climate and terrain, security and poverty index.
Hardship allowance was introduced in 1969 as an incentive for officers stationed in designated hardship areas.
Article 41 of the Constitution provides that every person has a right to fair labour practices which includes fair remuneration and reasonable working conditions.
Section 10 of the Human Resource policies and procedures manual for the Public Service provides for the payment of hardship allowance for officers stationed in designated hardship areas.
