Kenyan Teachers Issue Strike Notice.

Teachers in Kenya To Strike Due To Salary.

Teachers on Monday gave the government 10 days to find money to employ contract teachers permanently.

They also want this year’s budgetary estimates re-adjusted to cater for the hiring of early childhood education teachers and payment of pension arrears for teachers who retired in 1997 without a salary increase.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) said learning would be paralysed on July 1 if the government ignored the ultimatum.

“Come July 1, there will be no going back and we shall proceed with a national strike,” Knut secretary general David Okuta Osiany said in Nairobi.

He said the government must honour an agreement it signed with the union on July 22, 2010 by hiring, on a full-time basis, 18,000 teachers recruited last year on contract.

“The agreement clearly states that these teachers must be absorbed on a permanent basis after one year. It is also very clear that employment of the contract teachers was strictly a stop-gap measure.

“We were shocked that this did not receive any mention in the budget estimates,” he said.

Mr Osiany said the government must employ a further 10,000 teachers to achieve the target of 28,000 by 2012 as stipulated in Vision 2030.

He called on Parliament, which under the new Constitution has powers to recommend budgetary re-allocations, to force the Finance minister to comply.

“We are urging MPs, through their parliamentary committees, not to authorise implementation of the Budget if the government does not set aside money to employ teachers,” he said.

He also complained about delays in mainstreaming early childhood education, which was scheduled for 2010, due to failure to hire teachers.

Knut chairman Wilson Sossion accused Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta of not allocating enough funds to cater for pension arrears for over 30,000 teachers.

Mr Kenyatta allocated only Sh3.3 billion towards payment of the more than Sh32 billion pension arrears.

“The ministries of Finance, Education, the TSC and Knut had agreed that these retired teachers be paid their arrears in two instalments, beginning on July 1, 2011. The last instalment would be paid by July 1, 2012,” he said.

He also urged Education minister Sam Ongeri to resign over the embezzlement of over Sh4.2 billion in free education funds.

“More than Sh9 billion can be stolen but paying Kenyans who have served with all their hearts is a problem.

“Some teachers have died while some are languishing in poverty in the villages. We cannot tolerate this any more,” he said.

He said Prof Ongeri, his former permanent secretary Karega Mutahi and the ministry’s chief accounting officer must be held accountable for the scandal.

“Prof Kiyiapi came recently. Prof Ongeri was there and he must take responsibility. Prof Mutahi was there and he must also take responsibility,” he said.