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Latest TSC News: Commission gives details on T-Pay, Training of teachers on CBC and relationship with teacher unions

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The Teachers Service Commission, TSC, has moved to set the record straight concerning its relationship with teachers’ unions. In what is seen as a direct response to the Kenya National Union of Teachers’, KNUT, aasertion that the TSC wants to cripple its operations, TSC now says it has no powers to deregister any trade union.

Here is the presser from the TSC boss, Dr. Nancy Njeri Macharia;

‘STATEMENT ON TEACHERS SERVICE COMMISSION’S RELATIONSHIP WITH TEACHERS’UNIONS

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) wishes to set the record straight in regard to its relationship with the Teachers’ Unions and state as follow:

TSC as a Corporate Entity

As a corporate entity and as provided under the law. TSC executes its mandate through the Board led by the Commission Chairperson, Dr Lydia Nzomo. The Commission is supported by a Secretariat headed by the Secretary/Chief Executive Officer who is charged with the duty of implementing Board decisions.

As a public institution, the Commission remains committed to supporting the Government in the realization of its development agenda through the provision of quality education. Over the last two years, the Commission has recruited an additional 18,700 teachers to support the policy of 100 percent transition of learners to secondary schools. In addition, to several other key milestones, TSC has fully expedited the processing of pension claims and automated its payroll system, including the management of all third-party deductions.

The Commission was recently feted by the African Union (AU) for the Third Party Transaction Management System (T-PAY). This is an innovative IT platform that allows teachers to manage their third-party deductions, including union dues and financial transactions against their pay. The TSC win was under the category of Best Ethical Managed, Accountable, Transparent and Accessible organization. T-PAY has greatly improved our service delivery to teachers who can now manage all their third-party transactions at the click of a button, while preserving their right to data privacy. As a direct corollary, this has enhanced contact hours between teachers and learners, consequently improving learning outcomes.

To ensure that teachers are adequately prepared to successfully implement the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC). TSC has trained a total of 159,810 teachers during this year. (some 91,620 in April and 68.490 in August). A further 68.490 are scheduled to be trained in December, bringing the total to 288,000 by the end of 2019. As we come to the close of the year, we wish to thank our teachers for their dedicated and selfless service to the nation. We assure them of our commitment to serve and support them.

Relationship with Teachers’ Unions

TSC recognizes teachers’ unions as key stakeholders in the teaching service and the critical role they play in representing teachers’ issues.
Initially, TSC had an unstructured relationship with the unions. It is not until June 2016, that TSC. under the current leadership,made a fundamental decision to sign Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAS) with teachers’unions. TSC and the recognised teachers’unions signed the first CBA, covering the period 2013-2017 in June 2016. In October, 2016, the TSC and the unions signed a second CBA covering the period July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2021, through which the Government committed Sh54billion in improved salaries and allowances for teachers.

The overall objective of the CBAs was to promoteindustrial harmony and constructive social dialogue in the teaching sector. The culture of industrial unrest that had dominated the teaching service has now been conclusively addressed, thanks to the partnership of teachers and the TSC leadership to address teachers’ issues in a structured and regulated manner. This has led to improved quality teaching for our children on whose behalf we have all been called to serve

In its engagement with the unions, TSC operates strictly within the legal provisions that guide such a relationship. Any action initiated by the Commission is done after careful thought, review, in good faith and in strict conformity with the law. We wish to clarify that under the law. TSC has no power to register or de-register a union as that is the exclusive mandate of the Registrar of Trade Unions.

Similarly, under the law, to sustain a Recognition Agreement between an employer and a union, there are certain minimum requirements that a union must meet. However, in the event a union fails to meet the statutory threshold, the employer will continue to remit all dues payable to such a union.

The Commission has continued to work with registered unions even without a recognition agreement. Further, the process leading to revocation of a Recognition Agreement is elaborate and intricate.
It starts with issuance of the notice of intention and culminates with the decision reached by the National Labour Board. Parties involved still have an opportunity for conciliation and ultimately, judicial adjudication. This process is succinctly provided for by the law. Accordingly, the narrative being advanced that the Commission intends to kill any union is not only false but also misleading

Conclusion

Finally, the Commission wishes to assure all teachers that it absolutely has no desire or interest to constrict their avenues for expression and right to union representation. Equally, the Commission will continue to work harmoniously with all registered trade unions operating within the teaching service.’

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TSC News Portal

KNUT Calls for Legal Reforms to Protect Teachers’ Benefits Following Dismissal

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KNUT Calls for Legal Reforms to Protect Teachers’ Benefits Following Dismissal

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) is advocating for a significant policy change that would safeguard teachers’ benefits even in instances of dismissal related to disciplinary matters.

While addressing a teachers’ engagement forum in Kilifi County, KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu characterized the current system as inequitable and discriminatory, asserting that a teacher’s eligibility for benefits should not be contingent upon their conduct.

The union’s proposal aims to amend the legislation to mandate that the government and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) honor all accrued benefits, irrespective of the circumstances surrounding an educator’s departure from the profession.

“Our proposal as a union is that when a dismissal occurs for any reason, a teacher’s conduct should not influence their benefits. Compensation should be provided for the duration of employment,” Oyuu articulated.

According to KNUT, the existing policy disproportionately affects teachers who may have dedicated many years to their vocation but forfeit all retirement benefits due to disciplinary violations, some of which the union contends may be minor or subjectively assessed.

Oyuu further reiterated that while accountability is essential, financial entitlements ought to be determined by the service rendered, rather than personal behavior.

The union’s advocacy emerges alongside a more extensive campaign to reform the treatment of teachers by the TSC, with KNUT also recently criticizing the recruitment processes and disciplinary proceedings, which they assert lack openness and fairness.

Teachers at the Kilifi forum resonated with these views, recounting personal experiences of colleagues who lost their livelihoods and savings due to what they perceived as unjust dismissals.

The proposal is anticipated to ignite discussion within both the education sector and government, particularly regarding the necessity to reconcile employee rights with professional standards and ethical expectations.

Nevertheless, KNUT maintains that the financial stability of educators must not be jeopardized, particularly in a sector that already encounters morale challenges due to overwhelming workloads and restricted career advancement.

The TSC has not yet released an official statement; however, insiders indicate that the commission may resist such a sweeping policy alteration, contending that disciplinary actions must carry significance to preserve professional integrity within the teaching service.

As KNUT prepares to officially present its proposal, it remains uncertain how Parliament and the Ministry of Education will react to what could emerge as a crucial labor rights issue within Kenya’s educational framework.

TSC News Portal

Knut, Kuppet in trouble as TSC signs deal with new teachers’ union

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The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers, KUPPET, and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) have been dealt a major blow that will see their membership reduce drastically. This is after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) signed a recognition agreement with a new outfit; the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet).

An estimated 4,000 tutors with special needs, some of whom were in Kuppet and Knut have since decamped to Kusnet. But, membership to the new union will be limited to teachers with special needs only.

“The Commission hereby affords full recognition of the union as the body representing interests of special needs education teachers in the employment of the Commission and who are paid up members of the Union and teachers with special needs in the employment of the Commission and who are paid up members of the union,” read the recognition agreement between TSC and Kusnet.

Officials of the Kenya Union of Special Needs Teachers (KUSNET) pose for a photo with TSC Board and Management after signing a recognition agreement with the Commission in Naivasha on 03/03/2021. Kusnet will now tussle for membership with both Kuppet and Knut.

Kusnet will henceforth exclusively engage with TSC on matters pertaining to the welfare of special needs education teachers and teachers with special needs.

“All negotiations concerning terms and conditions of service in respect of members of the Union shall be carried out between the commission and the Union, provided that all negotiations concerning remuneration shall be based on mandatory and binding advisory of Salaries and Remuneration Commission,” the agreement reads further.

The recognition agreement also stated that negotiations between the employer and the Union will be conducted in a free and conducive environment devoid of threats to or actual industrial action or lock out and in a proper, structured, cordial and professional manner.

“Parties hereby agree to negotiate in good faith and solve all disputes amicably with a view to uphold and promote the best interest of learners. To this end, parties agree that there shall be no threats or actual threat to lock out or industrial action during the negotiations,” says the recognition agreement.

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ADMINISTRATORS SIDELINED

In what will be seen as a blow to administrators, the agreement provides that parties agreed that a teacher employed by the commission and who is in administrative position will not hold an elective position in the union. Where a teacher in the administrative cadre is elected as a union official, the teacher shall relinquish the administrative post forthwith.

Administrators continue to hold union posts in both Knut and Kuppet structures; a scenario that is likely to change, if the current developments are anything to go by. For instance, currently an administrator is only expected to relinquish his/ her responsibility once elected as the Branch Executive Secretary.

Membership to the new outfit will, though, be voluntary

“The union undertakes that no teacher will be compelled to become a member of the Union and the Commission undertakes that no teacher will be penalised on account of his/ her membership to the union or non- membership thereof,” adds the agreement.

Knut has been the biggest loser after seeing its membership dwindle drastically in the last two years; with Kuppet reaping big.

Kenya Union of Special Need Education Teachers KUSNET is a Union whose idea was hatched by our General Secretary James Torome before the year 2011.

Breaking Education News

Push KCPE, KCSE exams to 2021, open schools when it is safe- Lobby advises

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A group of unions is proposing that learners to continue staying at home for longer, citing the ‘unsafe’ school environment due to the current covid-19 pandemic. The group comprised of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) wants the government not to rush into schools’ reopening as it may lead to multiple infections by corona virus.

“Reopening of schools, colleges and universities must be transparent, phased and coupled with clear communication by government and public universities, colleges and schools, with the input of public health professionals, front-line healthcare professionals, educators, academic staff and the unions,”  said the unions in a joint presser on Wednesday.

The national covid-19 education response committee is currently working on recommendations on how to reopen basic learning institutions; with the report expect in a matter of few days.

According to knut secretary general, Wilson Sossion, learners should continue staying at home where they are otherwise safer.

“We would rather have all our children staying at home, safe and alive and repeating a year rather than sending them to school to die. The world will not come to an end if we suspend certain matters,” Sossion said during the joint presser.

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On the KCPE and KCSE examinations, the group is proposing that they be postponed till normalcy reigns; even it will be in November next year.

“We’ve heard of people talking about Form Four and Class Eight reopening. These are human beings; the world will not come to an end. Children can repeat a class, better save lives first. Even if the exams are pushed to November 2021, if we can evade death, let’s do so. The world will not come to an end if we suspend certain matters… Nobody in this country should gamble with the lives of learners and teachers. For now, open bars and test social distancing. KCPE and KCSE are not a ticket to heaven” he added.

KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion. He now wants both the KCPE and KCSE to be postponed to 2021 following disruptions to the education sector occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

The group also holds that well laid plans must be worked out before learning institutions are reopened. This includes fumigation and testing of the learners.

“It is advisable to maintain the closure of Kenyan educational institutions and universities until the number of new cases stabilizes or declines for at least 14 consecutive days, before considerations for phased re-opening begins,” reads the group’s report; in part.

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With Uganda set to reopen schools next month, it is highly likely that Kenya may consider going the same direction. But, the lobby says more needs to be done before such a move is undertaken.

“Set up treatment facilities to handle any cases that might arise to ensure access to health services by teachers, lecturers, non-teaching staff and learners…. Provide sustainable supply of Personal Protective Equipment for teachers, workers and students,” the report further adds.

TSC News Portal

KNUT Calls for Immediate Disbursement of Student Capitation

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KNUT Calls for Immediate Disbursement of Student Capitation

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has urged the Ministry of Education to promptly release capitation funds to schools to facilitate efficient operations.

Speaking on Sunday, April 27, the union’s Secretary General, Hesbon Otieno, indicated that this action would support the anticipated transition in the second term.

According to the Secretary General, the second term is when Grade 9 students will choose their senior secondary school pathways, thereby making sufficient funding critical for a seamless transition.

He consequently implored the government to disburse the capitation funds and any outstanding balances from the first term prior to the reopening of schools, rather than midway through the term or at its conclusion.

“It is imperative that the ministry provides the 30 percent intended for release in the second term. It should be disbursed in a timely manner before the schools reopen, and if there are any outstanding balances from the first term, they ought to be released so that the schools can commence on a positive note due to the transition,” he stated.

“I recognize that students are about to begin selecting the pathways they will pursue in grade 10. Schools must be adequately prepared to ensure that this process occurs efficiently, so as to avoid delays or frustrations for the heads of institutions and the school management. ”

Current Grade 9 students will be the first cohort of senior secondary students under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) programme, and they will commence specialization in various pathways starting from Grade 10.

According to the new curriculum, three pathways are available—Arts and Sports, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)—with each student expected to select no more than two.

The pathways will be determined based on both merit and the student’s preferences to guide them on their desired career paths.
However, this initiative has faced challenges, as the ministry encountered substantial backlash after announcing that only STEM students would be required to study mathematics, a subject that was obligatory in the 8-4-4 education system.