KUPPET Standoff with TSC Escalates as Principals Send Students Home.
Striking secondary school teachers are already playing hardball with their employer as Kuppet’s strike action enters its second week. The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers has shifted its stance.
It is now expected that teachers with higher education levels who have remained stagnant in the same job categories be promoted.
On Monday, a number of schools nationwide released their students, citing their arrest. Machakos School, Masii Girls, Matungulu ABC, and Mtituni SA Secondary Schools are all closed. Other schools are expected to follow suit.
Jomo Kenyatta Boys Secondary School and Jomo Kenyatta Girls’ Secondary School in Nakuru County sent children in Forms 1 to 3 home. Nakuru High School and Meru Secondary School similarly sent students home, claiming that no studying was taking place.
Kuppet wants the Teachers Service Commission to elevate instructors who attended class, received higher grades, and remained in the same job categories. The union has reframed the campaign against TSC as one against “the systematic failure to recognize and reward the professionalism of Kenyan teachers.”
Thousands of graduate teachers with master’s degrees do not receive automatic promotions, keeping them in the same job groups for decades. This is also true for diploma holders who have continued their education and earned degrees while serving.
TSC only implements automatic promotions under the common cadre progression once teachers have served a set number of years and met the required academic qualifications.
Stagnation in Job Groups
Teachers in Job Groups J (C1), K (C2), and L (C3) may move between work groups without undergoing a competitive selection procedure if they achieve the basic qualifications. In Job Group K (C2), degree holders enter the profession as Secondary School Teacher Two, while diploma holders enter Job Group J (C1).
Promotions to Job Groups M (C4) and higher, which include school administrators like senior teachers and deputy headteachers, follow a competitive selection process. Vacancies are offered regularly, subject to funding availability, and applicants apply via the TSC web portal, with shortlisting handled by TSC headquarters.
The Kuppet National Steering Committee decided Sunday that the strike would continue unless TSC met the union’s demands, including the advancement of instructors with better academic degrees. The NSC, Kuppet’s top decision-making body, declared that the union’s demands had shifted from the TSC-granted wage increase to promotions.
“Our fight isn’t about the Sh10,000 increase.” Akelo Misori, Kuppet’s secretary general, stated that without a review of career progression, teachers who have loans to repay and may have invested in additional studies are undermining their efforts.
“The employer has refused to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of teachers who have gone the extra mile to further their education; they have refused to promote them, thereby denying them the dignity and respect they deserve.”
Kuppet asserts that their members, who are advancing their education and earning higher certifications, are not receiving promotions, despite TSC guidelines suggesting that these should be automatic.
“We are witnessing a scheme to make teachers in this country no longer relevant, to relegate them to casual labor. This cannot stand. Teachers are professionals,” Misori stated.
TSC has claimed that it has promoted some instructors, with further promotions planned through Career Progression Guidelines and common cadre establishments.
TSC Promotions
“The TSC has promoted 51,232 teachers through competitive promotions and another 20,000 annually through common cadre,” TSC chief Nancy Macharia stated last week.
Kuppet, on the other hand, claims that thousands of instructors have stagnated because TSC allegedly refused to promote them.
TSC estimates that 78,768 teachers in both secondary and primary schools will receive promotions soon, out of at least 130,000 total.
Before calling off the strike, the union made promotions the top priority in its negotiations with TSC.
The union wants to resolve the demand before calling off the strike because it is one of the most pressing issues affecting Kuppet members.
The new demand appears to be a retreat from several concerns that Kuppet wanted TSC to address, including the appointment of JSS instructors on permanent terms, salary increases, and the streamlining of medical coverage.
However, a week after the teachers went on strike, the union failed to engage in any formal engagement with the employer to resolve the outstanding issues, with TSC insisting that Kuppet first call off the walkout.
KUPPET Standoff with TSC Escalates
The protest has halted studies in nearly all public secondary schools across the country, threatening to jeopardize preparations for this year’s Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education exams.
Last Monday, the Kenya National Union of Teachers called off its strike, allowing primary schools across the country to operate normally.
This comes after the TSC agreed to carry out the delayed Phase Two of the 2021-25 CBA, following the government’s release of Sh15 billion.
The funds would be used to support teachers’ compensation increases beginning July 1 as well as their medical insurance.
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Teachers also requested that the employer refund all statutory organizations’ debts and NSSF deductions.
They claim that since June 2024, third-party agents, including banks, have deducted the funds but not transferred them.
“The strike is still going on,” said KUPPET Secretary-General Akello Misori, noting that the TSC has failed to engage in genuine talks to tackle the issues at hand.
The union is especially worried about how the strike will affect Form Four candidates, who have their exams at the end of this term.
KUPPET Standoff with TSC Escalates as Principals Send Students Home.
