The TSC Wednesday said it had listened to, considered and tackled major issues raised by teachers in the ongoing negotiations, hence the agreements reached with Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers, KUPPET, and Kenya National Union of Teachers, KNUT. These are agreements involving the implementation of the second phase of the Collective Bargain Agreement.
The TSC has, in a statement, confirmed that the body is going to review the career progression guidelines while asking teachers to bear with it as this process goes on. The TSC has also resolved issues relating to the Teachers Medical Scheme, thereby enabling teachers to access both public and private hospitals.
Additionally, TSC CEO Nancy Njeri Macharia assured that the government is committed to resource retooling of teachers for effective implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum. The commission said 51,232 teachers had been promoted with an annual plan of an extra 20,000 teachers to be promoted in a common cadre.
This is despite the resolutions reached, and KNUT and KUPPET still declined the government offers, promising to go ahead with the strike. It comes barely a few days after President William Ruto asked the Ministry of Treasury, TSC, and the teachers’ unions to engage in dialogue to iron out the impasse.
TSC appreciated the efforts the unions had made in engaging them, just as it also lauded the government for making good its promise of resources toward the deal and other teacher-related programs despite gloomy economic times. The commission still hopes that continued talks will avoid disruptions in the term.