Primary headteachers want pay rise for managing junior secondary schools

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) wants the government to review the salaries of primary school heads, who now head junior secondary schools (JSSs) under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

Speaking during the Kenya Primary School Headteachers Association (KEPSHA) annual conference in Mombasa on Tuesday, KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu said the school heads now have more responsibilities than before.

“Managing all three school levels in comprehensive schools – ECD, primary, and JSS – is difficult. We expect the education minister to agree with the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) on a review of the heads’ remuneration,”

KEPSHA chairman Johnson Nzioka said for the last two years since January 2023, they have been assigned additional responsibility to head JSSs without any salary enhancement.

“We do not know if they are principals or heads of institutions. At a certain stage, they have taken the title of principal and we plead for endorsement now,” Nzioka said.