The Kenya National Union of Teachers delegates from across the country are in Kisumu for the union’s 62nd annual conference.
The teachers union has 110 branches from eight regions.
The National Executive Council, led by national chairman Patrick Munuhe, said they are using this year’s conference to push for better remuneration.
“We must struggle to create a gold ring of commitment, service and dedication, and create a web of unbreakable sense of unity that will bring home victories,” Munuhe said.
Knut secretary general Collins Oyuu said they now have a cordial working relationship with their employer - the Teachers Service Commission.
Among the key issues being discussed at the conference held at Citam Church Hall Kisumu is the 2022-25 CBA, promotion of teachers, deployment policy, the Teacher Professional Development, among others.
Oyuu said they have written to TSC to renegotiate their CBA, which they had submitted earlier, subject to the changing economy.
He said they are now pushing for a 60 per cent salary increment on top of other non-monetary components that were in the memorandum they submitted to their employer.
“For the past five years, teachers were not compensated, it cumulatively rounded to 60 per cent. We have therefore proposed a 60 per cent increment for teachers within the running CBA to cushion them against inflation,” Oyuu said.
He said they have urged the TSC to reconsider the promotion policy after it moved from higher education qualifications to appraisal mode.
He said the move has disadvantaged teachers who went back to class and obtained higher education qualifications.
“The NEC appeals to the employer to reconsider this policy so that teachers who acquire higher education qualifications and those who generally merit under the new curriculum can benefit,” Oyuu said.
Knut has also welcomed the employment of 30,000 teachers in January next year to bridge the shortage gap of 116,000 teachers.
As the implementation of CBC takes root, Oyuu urged TSC to find ways of funding teachers’ training, which he said is Sh6,000 per module.
