Even after TSC through its CEO Nancy Macharia wrote to Treasury to allocate sh. 16 billion to hire more teachers on contract terms in July both Knut and Kuppet have come out to oppose the plan.
The secretary generals of both Knut and Kuppet, Mr. Wilson Sossion and Mr. Akelo Misori, speaking separately vowed to oppose the plan till its finer details are released.
“We are aware that the government wants to punish teachers and weaken unions. We will reject the arrangement. What happens when the internship ends?” paused Sossion.
Sossion termed the programme a backdoor return of the contract teachers and vowed to reject it till a meeting is held between them and the teachers employer.
“We advocate for professional and sound policies that guarantee job security and fair solution to members grievances and so all the teachers will have a right to be represented by unions,” said Kuppet secretary general Akelo Misori.
According to TSC Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Macharia, when she appeared in parliament, it’s the president who personally ordered the recruitment of the interns to ease the current burden of 312,060 teachers. She said the current teaching workforce was overworked due to the government’s policy of 100 per cent primary to secondary school transition.
She added that the commission urgently needed 22,000 teachers to take care of increased number of students occasioned by Free Day Secondary Education policy.
“Even with the recruitment, the teacher gap will still be wide. The teacher gap stands at 104,821 in the country,” said Macharia.
In a congratulatory tone the National Assembly Education committee chairperson Julius Melly supported the plan but asked TSC to engage other parties to ensure its success.
“I think that is a very good idea. It can solve teacher deficit problems and kindly pursue this with the other stakeholders so that you implement it amicably,” said Melly.