Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia(left),Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Secretary General Akello Misori(left) and Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General.
In support of their proposed teachers’ salary increase of 60%, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has spoken out in their ongoing effort to get the 2021–2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement reviewed (CBA).
Despite signing the CBA, which had no financial component, since it had a review clause, they continued to push for further negotiations, according to Secretary General Collins Henry Oyuu, who was speaking to the media on Monday, October 17, 2022 at the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) in Nairobi during an induction meeting of the union’s 110 branch Executive Secretaries.
In order to start the review process and provide a counter offer to the union, Oyuu acknowledged that they had previously made their case to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
“As of this moment, the KNUT has already made suggestions based on the 60% salary increase for our teachers. I’m not sure what will be acceptable, but that is what we have set in motion. This is how negotiations work, according to Oyuu, if TSC approves of our proposal. Let them submit a counterproposal as well.
We cannot simply relax and wait, he continued. We have put up a proposal, and we are waiting for TSC to be open and submit a counterone.
Oyuu noted that the 2016–2017 fiscal year was the last time teachers’ compensation was evaluated, meaning that it has not been updated for cost of living increases since July 1, 2016, which is the equivalent of six years.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) statistics, according to KNUT, show that the annual inflation rate was 9.2% as of the end of September 2022 and was expected to be 10% by the end of October 2022. Since teachers had not received pay to make up for the previous 6 years, it was only fair to extrapolate the annual rate of inflation over 6 years, which is 60%.
Should the proposal will be accepted, the highest paid teacher at Grade D5 will take home Ksh. 252,249.6 per month from the current Ksh. 157,656; while the lowest at Grade B5 will pocket Ksh. 43,512 from the current Ksh. 27, 195.
| GRADE | HIGHEST SALARY BAND PER CATEGORY | AFTER 60% SALARY INCREASE |
| D5 | 157,656 | 252,249.6 |
| D4 | 121,890 | 195,024 |
| D3 | 104,644 | 167,430.4 |
| D2 | 91,041 | 145,665.6 |
| D1 | 85,269 | 136,430.4 |
| C5 | 64,631 | 103,409.6 |
| C4 | 52,308 | 83,692.8 |
| C3 | 53,943 | 86,308.8 |
| C2 | 43,694 | 69,910.4 |
| C1 | 33,694 | 53,910.4 |
| B5 | 27,195 | 43,512 |
