New pay structure boosts teachers

Finance minister Njeru Githae and Knut chairman Wilson Sossion after striking a deal

By VITALIS KIMUTAI

Details of the new salaries for teachers that put them at par with civil servants can be revealed today.

And in two days, Finance Minister Njeru Githae will announce the source of raising the initial Sh4.5 billion to cover arrears between July and October.

The Government will then begin shouldering an additional wage bill of Sh1.5 billion monthly to meet the harmonised salaries. The State will have to fork out Sh13.68 billion annually from the recurrent expenditure to pay the teachers’ salaries in the 2012/2013 Budget.

Finance Minister Njeru Githae said since the money was not factored into the budget the government has formed four committees at Treasury to explore possibilities of raising the Sh13.5 billion urgently required to cover the arrears in the harmonised package.

In the harmonised package, teachers in job group G (PI) will earn an additional Sh3,507 while those in groups H and J will earn an additional Sh4373 and Sh4,023.

Others job groups are (K) Sh9,594, (L) Sh10,605, (M) Sh12,963,(N) Sh15,654 (P) Sh22,490,(R) Sh24,658. The highest paid will be principals and chief principals who will earn Sh180,660 and Sh302,980 in job group’s S and T respectively.

Misori said that Kuppet’s 50,000 members would benefit from the deal that will be implemented in full next month.

“It is in the interest of the union that an amicable solution to the standoff is found and we are happy that we have struck a deal that will benefit teachers in this country,” Misori said.

He noted that normal learning should resume in schools countrywide this morning after a three-week standoff as teachers took industrial action against the employer, Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

“For the record Kuppet, which represents post primary school teachers is the biggest beneficiary of the deal signed with the Government leading to the strike being called off as they were the ones who demanded for harmonisation of salaries between civil servants and teachers,” Githae said at the press conference.

Githae said the increased wage bill for teachers would not affect the Government’s commitment to employ 10,000 new teachers yearly to bridge the shortfall of 80,000.

He said the strike would not have dragged on for three weeks had the parent ministry of Education and that of Labour dealt with the issue early enough.

“The Treasury does not micro-manage ministries that should engage directly with trade unions. On this particular issue, the Ministry of Education agreed with the unions last Wednesday on harmonisation and we came on board and gave our offer on Friday, leading to sealing of the deal today,” Githae stated.

He assured teachers the Government would honour the deal and they should expect the money to be factored into their pay for October.

“As a lawyer, I would not put on paper and append my signature to what I cannot implement because these things have a way of catching up with you eventually. This is about my personal integrity and in Treasury we have raised the bar very high,” Githae stated.

Kuppet officially called off the teachers strike after signing a deal with Finance Minister Njeru Githae and holding a meeting with Education minister Mutula Kilonzo.

“This has been a very trying moment for the teachers and unionists in this country. After a lot of anxiety the light has shone at the end of the tunnel” Kuppet’s Secretary General Akello Misori said.

Addressing the press after a meeting of the union’s National Governing Council (NGC), Misori, who was flanked by Kilonzo said the strike had officially been called off and teachers would report to work today.

“Our 50,000 members will report to their various work stations across the country where normal learning is expected to resume,” Misori said in Nairobi.

Kilonzo called on unions to take the agreements signed with the government seriously and in future ensure all procedures are followed so as to avert crises.

“The strike has been so serious that the teachers burnt my effigy. I will blow up the pictures and frame it so that it becomes a reference point for me in the future,” Kilonzo said.

Kenyans will dip deeper into their pockets to boot the increased wage bill for teachers following harmonisation of salaries and those of civil servants.

The Government is considering increasing taxes and borrowing more money locally and abroad as well as cutting development expenditure in order to raise the Sh13.5 billion required to harmonise the salaries of teachers with that of civil servants.

The Government hammered out a deal with Knut and Kuppet that resulted in calling off the teachers’ strike that paralysed learning countrywide.

It was a give and take deal that saw Knut climb down from their 300 per cent increment demand and settle on harmonisation of salaries, which was not captured in their strike notice.

“The Treasury is considering whether or not it is feasible to borrow either locally or internationally without disrupting the economic policy to pay teachers their salaries as the wage bill has increased,” Githae said.

Githae said reducing budgetary allocations for the various ministries specifically targeting hospitality, local and foreign travels and slashing of development funds was also an option that another committee is looking into.

The fourth committee is looking at the possibility of increasing Value Added Tax (VAT), which currently stands at 16 per cent, and the Income Tax pegged at 30 per cent.

“The option, which we are hoping is going to work for us, is to seal all leakages in revenue collection, especially as regards to dumping of substandard and counterfeit goods in the country,” Githae said.

Githae made the remarks when he officially signed the deal with Kuppet national officials in his office.