Teachers reject SRC salary increments, cite disparities with other civil servants

Teachers under the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) have raised concerns over the increment of teachers' salaries proposed by the Salaries and Remunerations Commission (SRC).

Speaking to the press on Wednesday, KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori cited major disparities between the increased prices for teachers and civil servants, arguing that they were shortchanged without effecting an earlier agreed Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

"The salary harmonisation we fought for during the Grand Coalition Government has been reversed. The salary gap between teachers and comparable civil servants has now risen to more than 60 percent," he said.

"Teachers have been given a CBA increment of only between Ksh.900 and Ksh.2,000, while civil servants have received much better benefits."

The Union further fingered the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) for what it termed as failing to protect teachers' welfare.

Misori argued that challenges like low house allowances and failures in health insurance deny teachers better working conditions, threatening industrial action to demand an alignment of the disparities.

"Social Health Authority (SHA) has failed to honour the commitments we agreed on in March and April. Teachers are still facing delays in treatment, system failures and being forced to pay from their own pockets for services that should be covered," he added.

"It is unacceptable that teachers seeking IVF services are being asked to pay up to Ksh.250,000 for diagnostics."

They demanded that the TSC provide an alternative medical cover if the health packages under SHA persist.