National exams at stake as Knut declares ‘infinite’ strike

Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary-general Wilson Sossion during a past press conference. PHOTO | FILE 

By SANDRA CHAO-BLASTO, schao@ke.nationmedia.com

IN SUMMARY

• The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams are set to begin on September 28 with oral testing for languages, while the final papers Agriculture and Geography are to be completed on November 5.
• The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations will run for three days starting November 10.

The national examinations timetable could be disrupted after the giant teachers union declared an ‘infinite’ strike, vowing that no learning would resume in public schools until they get a 50 to 60 per cent pay increase.

The declaration by Wilson Sossion, secretary- general of the 288,060-strong Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), officially converted the go-slow that had paralysed learning since Monday into a strike.

“We are heading for an infinite journey withdrawing labour until teachers receive the salary increment they were awarded by the court,” he announced at a press briefing in Nairobi’s Knut headquarters.

Form Four students are expected to begin their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations at the end of this month.

According to the schedule released by the national examination council, KCSE exams are set to begin on September 28 with oral testing for languages, while the final papers Agriculture and Geography are to be completed on November 5.

The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations will run for three days starting November 10.

Mr Sossion said that the union was not obligated to notify the tutors’ employer-- Teachers Service Commission (TSC) -- by issuing a notice over the same as this was not a fresh strike.

“We have resumed the strike that had been called in January 2014. The industrial court never declared that strike illegal, we as teachers decided to go to class as a cease fire in the interest of justice and the courts have already given their verdict,” he said. Treasury secretary Henry Rotich has stated that the pay rise, amounting to Sh1.4 billion per month and Sh17 billion a year, had not been budgeted for.

The Treasury has put forward three options to raise the extra cash, which include increasing taxes, borrowing from the domestic market or cutting budgeted expenditure. But Mr Rotich thinks all would have negative effects on the economy.

The teachers have, however, maintained that the government is capable of paying the Sh1.4 billion due in addition to their August salaries, without increasing taxes or interfering with the development budget if corruption is reduced.

“Of the Sh66.7 billion that the Auditor- General’s report said the government could not account for, Sh12 billion remained unaccounted for in the ministry of education alone, which is 70 per cent of what the teachers are asking.”

“Kenyans should not pay any extra cent of tax to meet the salary demands. If the government seals corruption and tax evasion there will be money,” the secretary- general said.

Knut chairman Mudzo Nzili said unlike before when the union’s leadership called for teachers across the country to go on strike, the teachers had kept away from the classrooms.

READ: Teachers insist on strike as TSC warns boycott is illegal

The chairman accused the government of failing to uphold the rule of law yet it was the Supreme Court ruling that saw them get into office after the disputed elections in 2013.