Revealed! 10,000 Graduate Teachers to Go Without November Salary

By Jane Okoth

It has become a norm to hear of teachers being underpaid or their other tribulations every now and then.

To add to their woes, a new revelation by The Standard newspaper reported that 10,000 new teachers will have to go without pay.

According to the paper, The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has issued a circular directing over 10,000 newly recruited teachers to officially report on duty on January 2, 2015.

This means that the teachers who had already reported to work without appointment letters will not receive any pay.

To make matters worse, the paper further reports that KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori said the tutors were ignorant because they did not wait for appointment letters before reporting on duty.

Are they in any manner justified to make this decision?

“I agree with one teacher who claimed that their salaries were still budgeted for,” says Bernard Meroka, a Senior Lecturer at a Middle Level College in the CBD.

“Where is this money going to since they won’t pay teachers and is this some form of fishy business going on?” he poses.

He further adds that “We all know what goes into the minds of graduates after they finish school. They just all want to work also considering the pressure they got from the school principals to start teaching immediately.”

He argues that “Refusing to pay them is a direct infringement of their rights.”

“The KUPPET individuals are now arguing that according to the law the teachers should have waited for appointment letters. Isn’t it their responsibility to communicate to the teachers since they are still fresh from school and have no understanding of the so called laws?” asks Moses Oyugi, a Teacher at a Public Primary School.

“It seems teachers in this country will continue to suffer even as they are yet to undertake their official duties,” he says.

“It is unfair that such bodies that are supposed to take care of their welfare and defend their rights are doing the exact opposite,” he concludes.

But Lenny Mwangi, a Businessman is of a totally different opinion. “People are so quick to condemn the employment body for this but I think that this is entirely the teachers’ fault.”

“How do you report to work without an appointment letter?” he asks.

“They all seem to have been misguided by greed of money and forgot that the law exists,” he opines.

“As a teacher I can only sympathize with them because they don’t seem to have a choice either,” says Moses.

He also adds that “It is obvious that there seem to be some form of miscommunication between the teachers and the union body on appointment so I don’t think this is their fault.”

“This is probably one of the reasons why teachers are resorting to doing other jobs because of such frustrations,” says Marion Akinyi, a Recent Graduate at a Public University.

“When will teachers ever be given the respect and importance they deserve?” she asks.

“From the information provided, KUPPET knew all along that the tutors were in class without appointment letters.

For them to say that they will not pay teachers because of a simple appointment letter is just suspicious to me,” she concludes.

In your opinion is KUPPET justified by not paying the new teachers?

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