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FRESH BID TO FORCE TSC TO SLASH, PAY SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCES ONLY, OR REASSIGN DUTIES TO JUSTIFY TEACHERS’ PAY: LATEST TSC NEWS
CHECK OUT SOME OF THE RIDICULOUS SUGGESTIONS OFFERED TO JUSTIFY TEACHERS’ PAY
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Newspro media team has authoritatively established a move by key players to force the teachers’ employer, TSC to denounce its pledge to continue paying teachers’ salaries in full until schools reopen in January.
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It appears that the recent announcement by the Teachers’ Service Commission to continue paying teachers’ salaries and implement the last phase of the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement, CBA at the end of July 2020 (which will see some teachers, especially school administrators, earn higher salaries ) did not sit well with some key players.
Following the “big” announcement, some quarters were a beehive of activities deliberately aimed at ensuring the Commission slashes, pay subsistence only or reassign duties to tutors to justify the over 20 billion monthly pay for the next six months.
“As of now, there is no plan to stop paying teachers. This is because it is not the teacher who has refused to go to class; schools are closed due to Covid 19. If the teacher is called upon to resume teaching, they will do so the following day, so long as the conditions are right,” said Beatrice Wababu, TSC Director of Communications last week.
This is the announcement that seems to have opened Pandora’s box. Last week, social media was awash with complaints about teachers earning undeserved pay. What captured our attention was a deranged argument by Protus Onyango, dubbed “TSC employed teachers to continue enjoying their full pay despite being idle.”
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This argument is not only scornful but also disrespectful to the teaching profession. Consequently, teachers termed the headline disparaging and inciting with some calling for a boycott of any Standard Newspapers and KTN News Channel until the media house apologizes for the misdemeanor.
In my opinion, this is a miscalculation by The Standard especially now that the media House signed a pact with one of the giant teachers’ unions, KNUT to allow teachers to subscribe for newspapers at a subsidized cost.
In the new deal, interested tutors would access all daily and weekend editions of The Standard Newspaper, The Nairobian, and other publications at a subsidized fee.
To read the full article, click on the following link
Standard, KNUT Deal Allows Teachers to Access Content at a Subsidized Fee
The war against teachers’ full pay did not however end with The Standard Media reporter Protus Onyango. Major players have now jumped the bandwagon to force TSC to pay teachers subsistence allowances as opposed to full pay or an alternative be sought to justify teachers’ pay. Otherwise, the continued pay will amount to stealing from the public coffers.
Subsistence allowance refers to money paid to workers for basic needs like food, housing, etc. popular TV and radio stations are suggesting that it is wrong for teachers to continue earning while doing nothing. They have now shifted the blame to the teachers’ employer, TSC for paying “idle” employees.
This heightened debate has culminated in ridiculous suggestions such as reassigning teachers’ roles so that they may be used in other national projects like bridge and road constructions.
Others suggest that teachers be used in mitigating the effects of covid 19 such as increased teenage pregnancies.
Our take right now is clear. The debate on whether teachers’ salaries should be paid is uncalled for and malicious. Remember that teachers get paid money that is only enough to sustain them, unlike reporters who can easily invest without necessarily applying for loans. Most teachers cannot afford luxury suites like Protus Onyango and the rest. So please, leave teachers alone. Just like the TSC put it, TEACHERS HAVE NOT REFUSED TO GO TO CLASS. IF CALLED UPON TO RESUME TEACHING, THEY WILL DO SO THE FOLLOWING DAY, SO LONG AS CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT!
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