The Kenya National Union of Teachers has issued a seven-day ultimatum to Labour Cabinet Secretary to block the roll-out of Teachers Professional Development modules.
Secretary-general Wilson Sossion accuses the Teachers Service Commission of breaching a ruling by the Employment and Labour Relations court.
He told reporters in Machakos on Tuesday that the TSC had contracted Kenyatta, Mount Kenya and Riara universities and Kenya Education Management Institute to train teachers at a mandatory Sh6,000 fee each.
Every teacher will attend five sessions during his/her teaching career.
Sossion said the Employment and Labour Relations Court had on July 12, 2019, ruled that the TPD should not be implemented due to a shortfall of professional development programmes.
"The TSC is acting in bad faith and blatantly defying a court ruling. It's an act of impunity," he said.
He urged Labour and Social Protection CS Simon Chelugui to intervene and solve the matter in seven days or else the union will take an undisclosed industrial action.
The TPD programme, according to Knut, will alter the terms and conditions of service for its members.
It faulted the TSC for forcing the "contentious" continuous assessment for teachers.
Knut chairman Wycliffe Omucheyi said they were not involved in the development of TPD modules which the teachers' employer had planned to roll out in April 2019.
The labour court had advised the union and the employer to agree on a career progression and implement the code of regulations for teachers. Knut accuses the TSC of ignoring to set up a meeting to discuss the way forward.
"Knut will therefore not support an illegal policy that will in the long run harm teacher," Omucheyi said.
Education International director Dennis Sinyolo condemned TSC for putting a wedge between teachers in the union and those who are not by paying the latter more.
Sinyolo said is unfair and against international labour law to treat teachers differently. "Having two payrolls for Knut members and non-Knut members is a violation of international standards."
