The Kenya national union of teachers, KNUT, has given TSC three weeks to consider their demands, failure to which, it will take a stern action against TSC.The core  of the complaint is implementation of collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations between Knut and TSC.

“You have strictly three weeks to remedy all these failure of which the union shall take stern action against you as provided in Article 41 of the Constitution without any further reference to you,” said Sossion during  a press statement.

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Sossion highlighted KNUT’s irreducible minimums, which TSC must meet, before teachers report in schools for term two in January 2021.

• TSC must implement the current CBA in a proper manner. The CBA was meant for both members of KNUT and KUPPET yet currently KNUT members are locked out.
• TSC must commence the next CBA in a procedural manner. The 2021-2024 CBA, whose counter proposal is currently with the SRC, was not handled procedurally. TSC was to hold meetings with KNUT and KUPPET separately, and listen to their proposal, and then present to them the counter offer. Upon negotiations, the parties would reach an Agreement on which offer to present to SRC.
• TSC must pay all teachers who are members of KNUT their salary arrears for the duration they were denied pay increase. Sossion is alleging that KNUT members did not benefit from the final phase of 2017-2020 CBA.
• TSC must immediate promote all Knut members who were due for upgrades but were denied opportunities for belonging to the union.
• TSC must recall its unilateral suspension of the 2017-2021 CBA for KNUT members and unblocking them from benefits, being enjoyed by members of the rival union and non union members.
• TSC must reinstate the Knut register as it was in June last year. KNUT membership has dropped from 187,471 to less than 35,000 members.
• Promotions must be in line with the code of regulations for teachers, CORT and not career progression guidelines as TSC is purporting.

In an earlier interview with a local media station, TSC head of corporate affairs Beatrice Wababu,  dismissed Sossion’s allegations, saying that teachers have quit Knut on their own . ”There has been a narrative that TSC removed members from Knut to benefit a rival union and that is not true. If teachers left any union, they did so on their own based on a court ruling that worked against them,” she said.

The teacher’s service commission, TSC, is planning to establish a school that will train all registered teachers on matters classroom management, effective teaching approaches and professionalism.

As per the education stake holders meeting that was hosted by TSC at KICD ON 13^TH November 2020, the plans to establish an institute of teacher support and professional management are almost complete.

In a way, every time teachers will have filled TPAD documents, gaps would be identified which only the TSC institute of teacher support and professional management will address. There is very high likelihood that Teachers will be enrolled in the school, based on the gaps identified in their TPADs.  This is akin to TPD and career progression guidelines, which the teachers service commission has been advocating for, and which are part of the 2016 collective bargaining agreement, CBA.

Teachers union KNUT is however opposed to CPG, and is strongly advocating for the schemes of service (SOS).

The TSC plan of establishing the post training institution may however fail. This is owing to a ruling by Justice Byram Ong’aya in petition case no. 151 of 2018. In this appeal case, TSC had petitioned KNUT in court, with the ministry of labour as an interested party and KNUT as the respondent. (CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RULING.)

Revoked CPG Circular

What the teachers’ service commission, TSC wanted was for the revoked circular of 2^nd may 2018, which was about career progression guidelines, to be recalled and made legal. The court however declined to grant the teachers service commission an appeal to that case.

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This simply implied that the earlier ruling by Justice Ong’aya still stands. Part of the ruling reads:

iii. There shall be stay of implementation of Career Progression Guidelines being circular No. 7 of 2018 being Ref. No. TSC/ADM/192A/VOL.IX/37 of 02.05.2018 and pending agreement in that regard and enactment.

1. Promotional decisions to be made as per the collective agreement and the prevailing regulations or such other regulations that may be promulgated as per section 35 (2) of the Teachers Service Commission Act, 2012 on career progression and professional development programmes as may be prescribed by regulations.
2. As teacher professional development programme has not yet been implemented, parties to engage as per the clause 12 of the collective agreement towards appropriate Teachers Professional Development (TPD) Modules and policy.

Funding For the Courses

As per whether teachers will pay for the courses or not, the ruling is still very clear about funding of TPD programmes.

“Accordingly, the Court returns once again that a statutory provision expressly permitting the petitioner to deduct out of teachers’ salaries towards partially or fully funding of TPD programmes as may be necessary or appropriate would be mandatory in that regard. Under section 25 of the Act, it amounts to a criminal offence to deduct salaries except as provided in Part IV of the Act” reads part of the rulling.

Teacher Promotions

Promotions will be determined  by the schemes of service, following provisions of the cord of regulations for teachers, CORT.

” The petitioner will undertake teacher promotions in accordance with the relevant provisions of the CORT and the schemes of service with respect to all unionisable teachers eligible to join the respondent trade union; and parties may within the CBA and recognition agreement consider reviewing the prevailing schemes of service with a view of bringing them into alignment with the prevailing CBA pay structure and related matters as will be necessary and without derogating from the provisions of the CORT on teacher promotion – as the policy circular of 02.05.2018 on Career Progression Guidelines and purporting to abolish and replace the prevailing three schemes of service will not apply accordingly.”

According to the ruling, career progression guidelines are illegal and therefore cannot replace the schemes of service, unless the two parties meet and come to an agreement.

TPD shall Not Be Implemented

“The Teacher Professional Development (TPD) modules in dispute shall not be implemented as they fall short of professional development programmes as may be prescribed by the petitioner by regulation and pursuant to section 35 (2) (a) of the Teachers Service Commission Act, 2012; and in prescribing the career progression and professional development programmes by way of regulation under section 35(2) (a) of the Act, the petitioner shall comply with the provisions of the  Statutory Instruments Act, 2013.”

Following the 2018 ruling by justice Ong’aya therefore, analysts argue that TPD,CPG and TPAD are all illegal.

Click here to download the ruling.