MPs to meet TSC bosses over hardship zone classification criteria

The National Assembly’s Public Petitions Committee has resolved to meet the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) leadership over the criteria used to designate hardship areas across the country.

This decision was reached during a session chaired by Kitui West MP Edith Nyenze, following a petition submitted by the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) from Machakos County.

The petition, presented by Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, raised concerns over the exclusion of Mwala and Kalama Subcounties from the list of recognised hardship areas.

This is in spite of it facing challenges similar to neighboring regions that are classified as such.

"As a Committee, we will meet TSC leadership and even the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to find out the criteria they use to categorize areas as hardship zones," said Nyenze.

The petitioners noted that teachers in the two sub-counties are denied hardship allowances, even though they are surrounded by regions that are already gazetted as hardship areas.

"Mwala is geographically located in the midst of Yatta, Kitui Rural and Mbooni East which are all hardship zones," said Musyoka.

"In Kalama Sub-county, teachers in 33 public secondary schools are entitled to hardship allowance, while 9 schools have been left out," he added.

Mavoko MP Patrick Makau, another committee member, urged the Committee to also question the TSC on how it determines house allowances for teachers in metropolitan areas.

He said there is a glaring disparity in the allocation of housing allowances between teachers in similar urban regions.

"It is unfair for a teacher in Mlolongo in my constituency to get a lower house allowance than their colleagues in the nearby Embakasi South Constituency. The two areas are in the same Nairobi metropolitan region," noted Makau.

Members of the committee agreed that there is a need to harmonize house allowances for teachers working in metropolitan regions to ensure fairness.

In a separate session, Ndhiwa MP Martin Owino appeared before the Committee to present a petition on alleged unfair labour practices at Sukari Industries Limited in Homa Bay County.

According to the petition, there are claims of discrimination between local and foreign workers, including unequal pay for equal work and holding separate meetings for different staff groups.

"My prayer is that this committee inquires into the alleged discrimination, unfavorable working conditions and unfair treatment of both outsourced and directly employed workers whether local or foreign," said Owino.

The Committee assured Owino that they will investigate the matter and even conduct a site visit to the factory. However, they requested more details to facilitate the inquiry.

"Those who have signed the petition should be categorised into the ones that belong to Sukari Limited and those who belong to outsourced companies," directed Nyenze.