Catholic bishops in search of breakthrough on teachers' strike

The Catholic Church has offered to mediate between the government and the teachers in a bid to end the pay dispute that has paralysed learning in public schools. He accused both parties of using threats and intimidation to further paralyse an already crippled education sector.

Speaking to the press yesterday, Bishop Phillip Anyolo, the Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops said the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and union leaders should accept involvement of an independent mediator to facilitate discussions between the two parties.

“All stakeholders need to be tolerant and accommodate each other and step back from the brink of an all-out industrial confrontation for the sake of our children. We are ready to mediate in this process to find an amicable and lasting solution," he said.

Anyolo said TSC and the unions are setting a bad example as role models by attacking each other. He urged that the strike, which is in its fourth week, should act as a wakeup call to think deeply about how to address industrial disputes before they spiral out of control.

“There is a need for key stakeholders to be constructively involved so that they can transform these problems into challenges that can be addressed in a calm atmosphere," said Anyolo.

The Catholic Church has more than 800 schools that it runs and sponsors more than 4,000 public schools in Kenya. The involvement of the church in education is dated back to the colonial era when missionaries built schools as a step of spreading the Gospel.

The current stalemate between teachers and the government has raised concern among the catholic schools as the government ordered the closure of all schools include faith based schools.

Anyolo failed to comment on whether these schools would defy the order but insisted that students should return to school as soon as possible for normal learning to continue.

He urged the government to uphold the Kenyan value and obligation which demands all of us to have provision to basic needs and protection of all children at all times," he said.

Religious leaders all around the country have echoed his words calling on the government to pay teachers the 50 to 60 per cent increment they were awarded by the court.