Teachers Plight

Raila Odinga Tuesday assured teachers that the government has instituted consultations on a number of issues of concern to them and will come up with a solution soon.

He said the government is looking into the issues of hardship allowance, employment of interns, none remission of union dues to KNUT by the TSC, pensions for retired teachers and the plight of P1 A-Level teachers.

The PM said the issue of lack of promotion for P1 A-Level teachers has dragged since 1995 and it needs to be resolved once and for all.

Mr Odinga said the government is particularly concerned about the tribulations of retired teachers who take up to three years without accessing their pension.

"It is bad because as the retirees age, they need more medical attention. But they spend the little money they have traveling to Nairobi to chase their pension that never comes when they need it most," the PM said.

Mr Odinga was speaking when he received officials of the Kenya National union of Teachers at his offices.

He said the government is putting emphasis on education as a means of attaining its development objectives.

"It is important to ensure that we can attract, support, and retain high-quality teachers into the profession. That is why we take these concerns very seriously," Mr Odinga said.

He told the KNUT officials that he had instituted government-wide consultations on the issues and would report back to the teachers before the end of the year.

KNUT, led by Chairman Mr George Wesonga and Secretary-General Lawrence Majali presented the PM with a petition on problems teachers wanted resolved urgently.

The officials expressed concern that the teaching profession is threatened by omissions by the government through the Teachers Service Commission.

"We are here to make a clarion call to your Prime Minister that we have serious problems as teachers. The teaching profession is being hurt by none other than the government," Mr Majali said.

He said there is "casualisation" of teachers' issues and it is hurting the profession.

The union officials said they are concerned about growing pattern of teachers being employed by bodies other than the TSC.

The chairman, Mr Wesonga said only TSC is mandated by law to employ teachers.

The law also provides for a negotiation machinery over issues like hardship allowances but that is being ignored.

The KNUT officials said TSC has declined to remit January 2009 union dues to KNUT.