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Public school teachers will receive a salary increase for July and August by the end of this week, following the release of Ksh13.5 billion by the government under the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The Education Department has maintained that it is committed to resolving all outstanding administrative issues with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) regarding the ongoing strike affecting a section of teachers.
The Ministry of Education has assured parents that it is safe for students to return to school for the third term despite the chaos caused by the strike called by KUPPET. KNUT ended its nationwide strike on Sunday after negotiations with the government. However, KUPPET urged its members not to return to school until the issue of unpaid wages and promotions is resolved.
The Minister of Education, Julius Migos Ogamba, said government was working to ensure that all outstanding teachers’ salaries were processed. He also mentioned that negotiations with KUPPET were ongoing to break the impasse and ensure smooth learning across the country.
“As part of the implementation of the 2021-2025 CBA, the National Treasury has allocated Ksh13.5 billion to ensure that public school teachers receive their salary arrears for July and August by Friday,” CS Ogamba said.
Despite the ongoing stalemate, Ogamba noted that students continued to return to campus following the decision by Columbia Polytechnic to end the strike. He spoke to the press at the opening of the 54th International Conference of the Association of Polytechnics and Institutes of Technology in Africa held at the Lake Naivasha Resort.
The Secretary of State also announced that the government plans to have all 20,000 trainee teachers currently teaching in lower secondary schools employed by the end of this year. “We are seeking additional funding to employ 46,000 trainee teachers as the Government works to address the country’s teacher shortage.” he added.
During the ceremony, CS Ogamba issued letters of appointment to 2,000 trainers who will be posted to 242 TVET institutions across the country. He stressed that “Currently, there are over 7,000 TVET trainers in the country and this new batch of trainers will help address the acute shortage as we need over 15,000 teachers.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Vocational Education and Training Esther Muoria announced the launch of the Recognition of Prior Learning programme. The programme aims to assess and certify skilled Jua Kali personnel with appropriate qualifications. She reported that more than 700 graduates have been formally certified after their technical knowledge and skills were assessed.
Muoria encouraged Kenyans who have acquired skills informally to come forward and apply for certification, which will help them gain employment opportunities.
“We call on Kenyans who have acquired skills informally to get certified through the government assessment framework or our national technical institutions.” P.S. said.
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