The Kenya National Post-Primary Education Teachers union (KUPPET), has agreed to reserve some positions in its union for the Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers which will range from branch to national level. The decision was made at a gathering on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. It happened at Kasarani Sports View in Nairobi and there were 54 National Governing Council (NGC) representatives present.
The move was motivated because of the ongoing internal power struggle between KUPPET and KNUT, the two big unions which are fighting for control over JSS. These unions have different views on how to manage intern teachers’ labor dispute with Teachers Service Commission (TSC). KUPPET adopts a more aggressive method while KNUT prefers using diplomacy.
The union members discussed a number of items, among them was regarding the constitutional changes. Once these are agreed upon, a new document will be given to the branches for careful examination.
The union’s Secretary General was given permission to hold a press conference regarding the disciplinary letters sent to JSS intern teachers for joining demonstrations when they should have been teaching.
TSC had given 7,357 JSS teachers disciplinary letters before taking any disciplinary measures, but the letters were later revoked by the court .
The Benevolent Benefit Fund (BBF) will be reinstated after TSC ceased the deductions from KUPPET members, as agreed by the union. The approval for BBF was given during the union’s Annual Delegates Conference (ADC) on April 3rd, 2021.
The event began with a minor dispute at the entrance. At first, five secretaries from the union executive couldn’t enter because of a court petition. But they were eventually let in.