The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers, KUPPET, maintains that the strike will go on despite a High Court order suspending the same and warns that parents who take children to school while the strike is on do so at their own risk and must bear full responsibility for the children’s well-being.
Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori has said that the union’s legal team was still studying the court order and until proper interpretation is given, the strike was still on. Misori insisted the union would only discuss issues of the strike through a return-to-work formula.
Kuppet further accused the TSC of informalizing teachers’ employment and failing to address their grievances. Mr Misori accused the TSC of neglecting the teaching profession, adding that some teachers have remained in the same job group for over 25 years, something he termed immoral and an indication of the commission’s irresponsibility.
Misori said the TSC had equally failed to implement vital aspects of the 2017 CBA, including ensuring every school has a principal. Misori blasted the TSC for retaining more than 4,000 principals in acting capacities without substantive appointments and for failing to pay them special duty or acting allowances.
The union is saying in no uncertain terms that it shall not blink until the TSC genuinely opens dialogue with them and listens to what teachers are saying, not dictating through court orders.