Knut maintains stand on January teachers' strike

Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion receives a gift from MKU Vice Chancellor Stanley Waudo on Saturday. [Photo: Kamau Maichuhie/Standard]

The Government has been warned to brace for tough times with teachers starting next month if it does not soften its stance on the sought-after pay rise.

The teachers want a 300 per cent pay hike. Over the weekend, Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary General Wilson Sossion accused the Government of not handling the matter with the seriousness it deserves.

Speaking at the Mount Kenya University (MKU) Elders Dance launch in Thika, Mr Sossion called on the Government to move fast and engage the teachers over the salary increment before it was too late as failure to do so would see them prolong their Christmas break through a strike.

The Elders Dance will be an annual event sponsored by the MKU School of Education.

"This time round, we are going to teach the Government a lesson. It will not be the usual strike. Teachers will only resume classes after the full pay package is paid even if it takes a year," he said.

He said the teachers were getting increasingly tired of the Government's failure to honour the salary increment, adding that they were no longer going to take it lying down.

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"Last year, a report by the Treasury indicated that the country loses Sh300 billion annually to corruption. The Government should slay the dragon of corruption since that money is more than enough to pay teachers their dues," he said.

He also took a swipe at the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) over its latest proposal on the review of allowances aimed at harmonising salaries in the public sector.

The move by SRC has seen teachers emerge as the biggest losers in the new allowances structure since they were getting better allowances than their peers in the public service.

"The union will not be guided by reports and proposals outside negotiations with the Teacher Service Commission. SRC was created to deal with salaries and allowances of State officers and teachers are not among them. This, therefore, makes the proposal not applicable to teachers," he said.

The Knut boss said the country's education quality was being compromised due to the high pupil-students-teacher ratio brought about by the free primary and subsidised secondary school education.