Government sets aside Ksh13.7b for teachers CBA implementation
By KBC Reporter
The national government has set aside 13.7 billion shillings for implementation of teachers Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in the budget that is expected to be tabled in parliament next week.
According to parliamentary education chairperson Sabina WanjiruChege, the pay hike will forestall any attempts to interfere with the learning activities through teacher’s strikes.
Speaking during the launch of first public primary school in KahawaWendani constructed by Ruiru CDF Under Esther Nyambura Gathogo on Friday, Wanjiru Chege pointed out that a consultative meeting between the respective unions had already been held.
She reaffirmed there would be no strike this year as the government is committed to keep its promise on the CBA.
‘The government has keyed the collective bargaining agreement for teachers in the budget to prevent any attempts to interfere with the learning program in our schools this year; we do not want another strike by teachers unions as any further industrial unrest in the education sector will devastate learning activitities,’ said the chairperson.
She noted that the next CBA review will be done in 2021 meaning that the government had managed to ward off any industrial unrest in the education sector.
‘The government has also scrapped off all activity fees charged in all public schools to ensure that more children access basic education. We are also planning to employ 10,000 teachers this year to mitigate the inadequacy of teaching personnel in our schools,’ added Wanjiru.
In the recently negotiated CBA, it was agreed that the P1 grade will be erased and more than 100,000 teachers will consequently be promoted in the agreement that is set to be effected from 1st July 2017.
Meanwhile, Kiambu county women representative Annah Nyokabi Gatheca has urged the ministry of education to harmonize teacher’s allowances.
‘You cannot compare house allowance of Kiambu and Nairobi county teachers, we demand harmonization of Kiambu County teacher’s allowances to correspond with those of their colleagues in Nairobi because there is no difference of working in Nairobi and Kiambu,’ Nyokabi demanded.
She lauded the CDF kitty under the management of parliamentarians which she said had improved the quality of education through education facilitation.
