Senator Probe, Hardship Allowances for All Teachers in This County
Senator Probe, Hardship Allowances for All Teachers in This County
Senator Probe, Hardship Allowances for All Teachers in This County
Senators have opened investigations into claims that teachers in Taita Taveta County received unfair hardship payments.In a petition to the Senate, the Taita Taveta Branch of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) argued that under Legal Notice No. 534 of 1997, all county teachers are entitled to hardship compensation.
The union also cited a collective bargaining agreement from July 13, 2021, between the Teachers Service Commission, KNUT, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers, and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers, which also established hardship allowances for all county-employed teachers.
Despite the existence of these rules, the Taita Taveta Branch of KNUT asserted that not all teachers in the county of Taita Taveta are receiving hardship payments. They specifically mentioned that teachers in Voi and portions of Mwatate Subcounties are receiving hardship allowances while others are not.
Included among these prohibited areas are Voi Sub-County’s John Mark Mwanjumwa Secondary School, Mbololo Secondary School, Ronge Zone of Mwatate Subcounty, Taveta Subcounty, and Taita Subcounty.
The union claimed that in order to overcome issues like the insecurity brought on by roving wild animals from Tsavo National Park, the high cost of water, and impassable roads, teachers in these locations need hardship compensation.
Additionally, they pointed out the lack of rental housing near schools, significant workload due to understaffing, high medical care costs due to the absence of medical facilities, and communication difficulties caused by poor network coverage in these regions.
The petition emphasized that there is no justification for selectively awarding hardship allowances to some areas in Taita Taveta County while excluding others, as these areas share comparable characteristics in terms of climate, topography, security conditions, and social amenities.
Furthermore, the union highlighted that this discrimination in hardship allowance allocation discourages teachers from accepting positions in areas not entitled to such allowances, thereby exacerbating staffing issues in schools.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should provide hardship payments to all teachers employed in Taita Taveta County without additional prejudice, KNUT urged the Senate to endorse.
