Teachers, who pressed the red button for the Kenya national union of teachers KNUT, cannot regret their move since their December pay had all the CBA 2017-2021 arrears, backdated to July.

The group of teachers also got promotions to the next job group since quitting KNUT meant that they have accepted the career progression guidelines, (CPG), that their former union opposed.

Over 32,000 primary school teachers, previously in job group B5, all got promoted to C1, rescuing them from unbearable stagnation, that they unwillingly endured for years under the KNUT’s schemes of service.

KNUT membership currently stands at less than 10,500, all the way from 144,000. It is projected that KNUT Membership will even go lower, upon successful completion of the ongoing promotion process.

Analytically, KNUT did not receive any funds from TSC in August, September and December 2020. In November 2020, KNUT received union dues amounting to only ksh. 20,000,000, downwards from ksh. 144,000,000 in June 2019.

This membership stalemate affecting KNUT, can be traced from a dispute KNUT had with TSC, where CPG was ruled illegal by justice Byrum Ong’aya. KNUT has since opposed CPG, insisting that TSC should use schemes of service to promote teachers. Under the schemes of service, teachers should be promoted based on merit, seniority, vacancies, academic and professional qualifications.

Most of The teachers who got their arrears have praised CPG, for effecting their promotions, unlike SOS, which ensured their stagnation for ages.

Under SOS, promotion of p1 teachers was based on proficiency courses, which they took as prescribed by TSC.CPG will ensure that P1 teachers get promoted in the common cadre promotions on merit after every three years.

KNUT members, since they are subscribed to SOS, do not benefit from some aspects of the 2017-2021 CBA.

The Teachers’ Service Commission, TSC, seeks to recruit deputy principals, senior lecturers, senior masters, curriculum support officers, head teachers and deputy head teachers, as per the recently advertised vacancies for promotion.

Senior master IV positions are the majority vacancies with 6,680 of them at the scale of 9(C4). The head teacher vacancies are 2,111, deputy head teacher II 1,765, deputy principal I 1,341, deputy principal II 1,096, deputy principal III 1,590, curriculum support officer II 209, senior master V 350 and senior lecturer IV 45 positions.

However, KNUT members have expressed fear that this could be the last nail to sink the giant teachers union that has opposed the criteria to be used to move tutors to new grades.

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In the advert, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) says the promotions will be based on career progression guidelines (CPG) that has been subject of contention between the employer and Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut).

Knut opposition to the CPG has seen thousands of teachers quit the union to benefit from the ksh. 54 billion collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

This is after TSC maintained that the court ruling on CPG meant that Knut members, who are opposed to the criteria, were not legible to benefit from the CBA.

If the ongoing promotions are based on CPG as it has been written, then members of KNUT are already blocked from participating since KNUT is opposed to CPG.

In 2018, TSC issued a CPG circular to the county directors, sub county directors, principals of national polytechnics, technical training colleges, Institutes of science and technology and diploma teachers training colleges on the guidelines for teachers’ service.

The guidelines provide for the policies and procedure that have standardized teachers’ professional development with the grading structure taking into account the job evaluation report.

The circular outlines basic requirements for career progression, training and promotion of teachers and also define the pathways for teachers and a clear job description at every level.

It effectively replaced the scheme of service for non-graduate, graduate and technical teachers and lecturers, which KNUT has always advocated for.

“Pursuant to its mandate, the Commission is inviting applications from suitably qualified candidates to fill the posts shown below in line with the career progression guidelines for teachers,” reads the TSC letter in part.

The move by TSC to peg promotions on CPG is a major blow to Knut and its members who will also not benefit from upwards mobility which most teachers have waited for many years. next

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.

Nzomo took the oath of office in 2014 as the first person to chair the TSC, immediately after it was made a constitutional commission. TSC was constituted fully in March 2015, following the appointment of the chairperson and commissioners and their recruitment to serve.

Before becoming the TSC chairperson, Nzomo worked with the TSC in various capacities, including serving as acting TSC CEO. She also served as a council member of various agencies; Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, the Kenya Institute of Special Education, Kenya Education Management Institute, Kenya National Examinations Council, School Equipment Production Unit and Kenya Methodist University.

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With the end of her six year tenure, Nzomo has given a report on her exit to the TSC. In the report, she has stressed on resource mobilization, staffing, integrity, professionalism and strengthening research as the most critical areas that the commission should focus on.

Nzomo will take credit for the following pivotal achievements in the commission as she retires towards the end of November.

• She spearheaded the introduction of Career Progression Guidelines, CPG, for teachers that were launched in November 2017, to replaced the schemes of service (SOS).
• During her tenure,TSC rolled out performance contracting for institutional heads and the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) tools for teachers.
• Nzomo was party to the signing and implementation of the first collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the teachers’ unions. This resulted to an end of continuous industrial actions and teacher strikes that would seriously paralyze teaching and learning in public schools in the past.
• Her reign saw TSC implying very strong-arm tactics in dealing with ‘troublesome’ stakeholders like the Kenya National Union of Teachers, KNUT.
• She was at the fore front in rolling out the teachers’ medical cover, AON Minet.
• During Nzomo’s tenure, the delocalization programme was enhanced, as a way of promoting national integrity. This saw various heads delocalized to schools in other counties. Most newly recruited primary school teachers were also affected.

What more do you remember Nzomo for? Kindly put it in the comment box below.