Teachers Declare a Strike in Response to Ruto’s Tax Changes
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) have written to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) demanding an explanation for why the government implemented the Housing Levy and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) deductions without informing the two organizations.
The unions have given the commission 14 days to respond to the notices, after which they would take serious steps, including launching a strike, according to Peter Amunga, director of communications for KNUT, who spoke with our team.
Amunga stated that on Saturday, August 4, at Tom Mboya Level College in Kisumu, similar allegations were raised at a conference.
At the gathering, teachers from all throughout the country expressed their anger over the effect the deductions have had on their capacity to sustain themselves.
The government planned to retrospectively apply taxes once the Court of Appeal agreed to lift the injunctions barring the Finance Act of 2023 from taking effect, and the teachers grieved that they had no choice but to participate.
A strike is being pushed for by the teachers. The TSC and the unions came to an agreement that they wouldn’t call a strike in the middle of the academic year. According to the speaker, this was put in place after the outbreak to give students time to catch up on their coursework.
The agreement does not, however, stop unions from going on strike. The Kenyan labor laws permit strikes, which can be called by unions.
One of the issues the teachers are protesting is funding contributions to the NSSF and a Provident Fund established by TSC.
A monthly contribution of 12% of one’s monthly salary is required under the NSSF rates, of which 6% is deducted from the employee’s pay and 6% is paid by the employer.
Teachers, on the other hand, also contribute 7.5% of their income to the Provident Fund.
Amunga asserts that the tutors are unable to keep up with the academic program because they are currently in a poor attitude. He stated that the professors support the Law Society of Kenya’s (LSK) plan to sue the government over the increased taxes.
The communications specialist also questioned the radical changes made to the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) by the Presidential Working Party on Education.
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Among other substantial changes to the educational system included in the proposed reforms, the number of topics taught in junior secondary schools would decrease from 14 to 9, with additional restrictions for pre-primary (5 subjects), lower primary (7 subjects), and upper primary (8 subjects).
Other suggestions include doing rid of school divisions and making all seniors perform three months of community service.
The study also recommends that new college grads complete nine months of community service.
Amunga questioned the effectiveness of the measures as well as the government’s ability to make the transition proceed smoothly.
The majority of them are not useful even though they appear to be on paper. For instance, you neglected to address the human resource—teachers—when changing schools to junior and senior high schools. The government is not talking about the required training. Recent activities, he observed, have resembled seminars more so than training.
He emphasized that because most teachers are uninformed of curriculum changes, they are forced to learn about them from the news.
We require specific information on the types of assignments or exams that will be provided, as well as specifics on who will design and administer these exams, because they are not explicit regarding tests and measurements.
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