The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Teso Branch has lauded the move by President Dr. William Ruto for a 10% salary increment and promotions for teachers across the nation.
Addressing the press at the KNUT offices in Amagoro on Wednesday, branch union Executive Secretary Ekasiba Geoffrey said teachers have applauded the offer and feel accepted and embraced by the current government at this hard economic time.
“This was a timely move by the president, and it will boost the morale of teachers. This government has prioritised the interests of teachers on salary, employment, and promotion, thanks to our president Ruto,” said Ekasiba KNUT Executive Secretary Busia.
“As teachers, we better take half bread than full bread. We plead with the President to give teachers the remaining 50% salary hike when the economy stabilises,” he added.
Ekasiba told teachers to appreciate the little offer they have received from the national government, urging them to double their efforts to improve education standards in the region.
The Executive Secretary regretted that understaffing in the branch, especially of deputy head teachers, had taken its toll, urging the TSC to intervene and correct the mess.
“As for head teachers, at least every school in the branch has a head teacher seconded by the TSC. Most schools lack deputy head teachers, with Angurai Zone experiencing a shortage of 14, Kolanya Zone 11, Amagoro 9, and Amukura 16,” he said.
On August 25, 2023, the TSC advertised over 36,000 vacancies for chief principal, senior principal, principal, deputy principal, senior lecturer, senior master, secondary teacher 1, head teacher, deputy head teacher, and senior teacher.
Despite that kind gesture, Ekasiba noted that most teachers from the branch who had sent their applications for promotion received regret letters on the grounds that they were not able to meet the threshold based on their job groups.
” It was not the fault of the teachers who could not move to the next job group since it stagnated. The demands are high, and that would lock out many teachers,” he said, adding that their employers should promote teachers based on their performance and not job groups.
He added: ” I urge TSC to promote deputy head teachers from the Teso region instead of outsourcing them, noting that the branch has enough manpower to fill those positions.”
The Executive Secretary noted that most teachers from Bungoma who were teaching in the Teso region had returned to their ancestral homes without replacements, thus leading to understaffing and affecting performance.
Ekasiba said there are some teachers from the Western Region who want to be transferred back to Teso but face bottlenecks, urging such teachers to seek authority from the Western Regional Director of Education in Kakamega.