Teachers seek more allowances

Teachers are now demanding more money in allowances in a proposal set to be submitted to their employer, TSC, today at a meeting in Nairobi for discussion.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) in a proposal, wants house allowances for Nairobi to be harmonised across all regions in the country.

JOB GROUPS

Kuppet also wants teachers in municipalities and cities (county headquarters) to be provided with a township allowance which should range from Sh3,500 to Sh8,000.

The union also wants teachers house allowances in other regions to range from Sh6,750 for teachers to Sh45,000 for chief principals. At the moment, teachers in those areas earn between Sh3,200 and Sh28,000.

“The cost of living for teachers working in county headquarters continues to increase while the Commission has categorised the counties in a different order,” reads the document by Kuppet.

TSC will be meeting Kuppet to discuss among others progress of implementation of the current CBA.

The union says the current house allowances for teachers have disparities widening with job groups as well as the location.

“Teachers in Nairobi have emerged to be the largest beneficiaries compared to teachers in Molo, Nakuru County who are marginalised because of the geographic location,” adds the document.

For instance , Nairobi teachers at Grade C2, which is equivalent to Job Group K, take home Sh16,500 in house allowance while those from the rest of the country earn only Sh7,500. Nairobi teachers at Grade C3, equivalent of Job Group L, take home Sh35,000 while their colleagues from the rest of the country get Sh15,400. The gaps are bigger at higher grades.

“Article 27 (3) of the Constitution, as read with Article 43(b), unambiguously prohibits all forms of discrimination and provides the right to decent housing. Teachers’ right to decent housing can be weighed on a number of legitimate parameters such as work experience, family size, special needs and others but certainly not one’s area of service,” said Kuppet Secretary General Akelo Misori.

The union says the emergence of devolved governance has raised the standard of living in county headquarters and teachers in these towns have their purchasing power limited by the current house allowance.

“For instance, teachers in Kiambu, Nairobi, Kisumu and other county headquarters cannot afford adequate housing with the current allowance,” argues Kuppet.

TSC will be meeting Kuppet to discuss among others the progress of the implementation of the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA-2017-2021).

Kuppet also want an improvement in medical scheme for teachers with inpatient being increased from Sh900,000 to Sh2.5 million. At the moment it ranges from Sh500,000 to Sh1.5 million.

Other benefits that Kuppet want are; annual medical check which will entail the examination off full haemogram, Cholesterol, blood sugar, Urinalysis, Pap smear for women, prostate specific antigen(PSA) for men and mammogram, family planning services.

Others are; exclusions for instance the treatment from non-accredited health facilities, vaccines such as Rota virus vaccine, anti-rabies, anti-venom, yellow fever and rehabilitation services for alcoholic teachers.

Teachers also want to participate in identification of health service providers through their representatives and the scheme to revise the number of dependants to five from the current four.

Inpatient treatment to include government facilities such as referral hospitals and continuous sensitisation of teachers about the healthcare, group life and last expense incorporating the trade unions.