Teachers July salary increment get boost after new TSC orders

Teachers employed by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will enjoy an enhanced perk in their July salaries after the latest order by the High Court.

The National Treasury already released a total of sh. 9.1 billion to TSC that will be used to implement the July payrise plan for over 350,000 teachers and secretariat staff on pnp payroll.

Announcing the salary increment of between 7% to 10% for teachers and civil servants, President William Ruto said this is to cushion public servants from the harsh economic times.

“I know there is a proposal by SRC for the increase of salaries of different cadres of both civil servants and other public servants. So our teachers, policemen, military space, and those working in government, we have agreed that from tomorrow your salaries will be adjusted between 7 and 10 percent,” Ruto said during the launch of the new e-citizen platform at KICC.

However the latest order from the High Court on Finance Bill 2023 is what will make the July payrise interesting for teachers.

High Court judge Mugure Thande yesterday declined to set aside orders suspending the Finance Act 2023.

The judge ruled that the petitioners (Busia senator Okiya Omtatah and others) have proved that they have a case adding that if the orders were to be lifted the public stands to suffer.

The judge further directed that the file be forwarded to Chief Justice Martha Koome to appoint a three-judge bench who will hear and determine the matter.

This means that teachers will get their July salaries with 7% salary increment without the 1.5% housing fund deduction which was enshrined in the Finance Act 2023 and was to start on 1st July 2023.

The latest order from the Court will bar TSC from deducting the 1.5% from teachers payslips to go towards the Housing Fund.

Besides the benefit of an enhanced net pay, teachers will also have an improved borrowing power when taking check off loans.

The president had ordered the salary increment to be calculated from 1st July meaning the payrise effect will be reflected in the July payslips.

In the first financial year (2023-2024) teachers will get a salary increment of 7% then second year (2024-2025) will be 8% then third year (2025-2026) will be 9% and final year (2026-2027) will be 10%.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has however protested and issued a 14-day ultimatum to TSC to convene a meeting to review the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) signed in 2021.

“Earlier, TSC came up with a proposal of Sh2 billion for teachers’ allowances, which is welcome, although the National Treasury reduced it to Sh1 billion. We still want our TSC to sit with us and reopen the way for negotiations,” Knut SG Collins Oyuu said.

“But now that it has lifted the caveat on negotiations, we are out. We have written a letter to the TSC and I have given them 14 days to bring us to the table so that we can start reviewing the non- monetary CBA that we signed in 2021. We must not forget that the economic situation in this country is so biting that we have to sit again so that there is something on the table for the teachers,” he added.

Below is the minimum and maximum basic salary for teachers from job group B5 to D5 based on 7% to 10% salary increment.