The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has outlined plans to review the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) it signed with teachers unions.
The Commission is seeking Sh56 billion over the next four years starting July 2023 to raise salaries for teachers from B5 to D5.
Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia said although trade unions signed the 2021-2025 CBA, it didn’t contain any monetary value, a move that would now be the subject of a review.
“The commission negotiated a non-monetary 2021-2025 CBA with the teacher unions pursuant to the advisory from the Salaries Review Commission. It was agreed that the CBA be reviewed mid-term if the economic situation would improve in the country,” Dr Macharia told members of the National Assembly Education and Research Committee chaired by Julius Melly on Tuesday.
“The Commission would wish to review the 2021-2025 CBA, more specifically the salary component with an aim to motivate teachers under the employment of the Commission.” She added.
“Accordingly, we request this Committee to support the Commission get Sh14 billion per year for four years to cater for the same.”
Dr Macharia also announced plans to recruit 20,000 new teachers in the next financial year to address the shortage of staff mainly at the Junior Secondary School level.
She urged Parliament to allocate the Commission Sh3.8 billion for the recruitment in the next budget to be presented in June.
The announcement comes just a month after the TSC recruited 30,000 teachers the majority of them who were posted in the Junior Secondary School with each institution receiving at least one member of staff.
Stakeholders have raised questions over the staffing crisis in schools arguing that one teacher was inadequate top handle all the 12 subjects on offer at the Junior Secondary School level.
But Dr Macharia said the Commission was determined to fix the shortage of teachers, which stood at 116,000 at the start of this year.
Dr Macharia also asked the Education Committee of Parliament to push for the approval of Sh2.2 billion for the promotion of 14,000 teachers who have stagnated at one job grade for long.
“The commission has received several requests from teachers, teacher unions, stakeholders among others on promotion of teachers who have stagnated in the same job group over the years and also those who have attained higher qualifications,” Dr Macharia said.
She added: “Admittedly, we have not been able to promote these teachers because the commission has not received promotion funds since the implementation of the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement. This has in turn tainted the Commission’s image.”
To address the stagnation outcry, “the Commission requires Ksh2.2 billion to carry out the promotion of teachers in different job cadres”.