House team calls on TSC, Knut to end wrangles

Parliament has asked the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the tutor’s employer to consider withdrawing legal suits against each other to end their long-standing dispute.

In the latest dispute, the Knut accused the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) of running parallel payrolls for teachers that denied its members pay increments and promotions.

The TSC said it relied on the Career Progression Guidelines to promote 47,131 teachers, leaving out members of Knut that fall under the Schemes of Service.

“We highly recommend that the Knut and TSC cease hostility, compromise all matters in court and record consents of withdrawal,” said Florence Mutua, parliamentary Education Committee chairperson.

The TSC has denied some 32,556 teachers promotions and salary increase despite the benefits being the final fulfilment of the Sh54 billion collective bargaining agreement whose four-year execution ended last month. Knut accused the TSC of misinterpreting a court ruling leaving out its members who fall under the Schemes of Service.

Schemes of Service, contained in the Code of Regulations and Code of Conduct and Ethics for Teachers, is the preferred promotion path of Knut, but the TSC frowns upon it.

“The TSC cannot use the Scheme of Service because it is tedious,” TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia told the committee yesterday at a meeting to resolve the dispute.

Knut secretary-general Wilson Sossion maintains that abolishing the Schemes of Service was an attempt to end the recognition of new academic qualifications, which teachers have attained and spent a lot of resources on.

“The commission should not sneak in the Career Progression Guidelines, which have been nullified by the Employment and Labour Relations Court but should promote teachers using the Code of Regulations for teachers,” he said recently.

Ms Macharia yesterday denied claims that the TSC runs two payrolls.