TSC to promote 15,000 teachers with diplomas

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) building in Nairobi. [Beverlyne Musili, Standard]

Some 15,000 promotions for diploma teachers will be out next week following a meeting between the teachers’ employer and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).

The union also pitched for 70 per cent salary increase and asked for harmonisation of house allowances for teachers across all regions during the meeting with the Teachers Service Commission.

Kuppet also made major proposals to enhance the current teachers medical cover to be adopted starting October 1.

The three items were the talking points in the meeting between officials of TSC and Kuppet who also scheduled a retreat early next month to further deliberate on medical cover and pay rise proposals.

On promotions, Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori said all diploma teachers will be eligible to apply for the slots, which will move them from Job Group C2 to C3. The teachers have not been promoted for the last 10 years.

“The promotions will be competitive and this will be a good move to elevate them to the next grade,” said Misori.

However, teachers under the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) will miss out on the promotions as the union already rejected Career Progression Guidelines (CPGs) to be used to move the tutors.

TSC is implementing the career guidelines, which form basis for upward mobility against the automatic promotions that Knut advocated for under the old order.

Career progression

Justice Byrum Ongaya last month set aside the new career progression rules to guide teachers’ promotions, which Knut has strongly opposed.

This means that all Knut members who are diploma holders will not benefit from the promotions.

TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia said it developed CPGs after realising that the Schemes of Service were inferior tools in that regard.

“The immediate consequence of the court judgment with regard to teacher promotion is some major promotional benefits achieved through the CPG have been lost,” said Macharia.

She said that promotion of teachers who are members of Knut, shall strictly be as per the provisions of the Schemes of Service.

Macharia said that under the CPGs, the Commission implemented Phases I and II of the CBAs for all teachers regardless of their unions of affiliation.

“The CBAs introduced a paradigm shift in the remuneration of teachers which was hitherto not dependent on the worth of the job, as now provided, but on the job group of a teacher,” said Macharia in a statement releases earlier.

On salary raise proposals, Kuppet kick-started talks for the 2021-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

“Kuppet proposes an increase in basic salary ranging between 30 per cent and 70 per cent from the current minimum salary of Sh21,756 to Sh36,985 on the lower cadre,” reads the proposal.

The proposals of document tabled yesterday if implemented, will see highest paid teacher under job group D4 who currently earns Sh118, 242 take home Sh153, 714.

Kuppet also proposed an enhanced inpatient cover of Sh900,000 for lowest paid teachers to a maximum of Sh2.5 million for teachers with highest pay. Currently, inpatient range between Sh500,000 and Sh1.5 million.

The union wants outpatient to be unlimited with optical and dental cover increased to Sh50,000 and Sh40,000 respectively. These covers currently range between Sh10,000 and Sh25,000.

Kuppet wants maternity cover raised to Sh150,000 from current Sh75,000 and Group Life cover ranging between Sh600,000 and Sh900,000. The union also proposed a flat rate cover of Sh200,000 for last expense.