The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) made an announcement on the launch of a pressure campaign so as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to reform the payment of house allowances to teachers.
Current policy, which has been in place for decades, limits teachers’ housing allowances by their own terms. For this purpose, employers have identified four regional categories: Nairobi; Big cities like Mombasa, Kisumu, Malindi and Naivasha; The district headquarters include Nyeri, Eldoret, Kericho, Kakamega, Garissa, Kisii and Nakuru; and the rest of the country.
Those teachers in Nairobi receive twice the housing allowance offered to their counterparts elsewhere in the country. To cite just two examples, Nairobi teachers in Class C2, compared to Task Force K, take Sh16,500 for homework, while those from other parts of the country only get Sh7,500.
Also Nairobi teachers in Class C3, the same as Group L, take home Sh35,000, while their compatriots from other parts of the country get just Sh15,400. The gap is higher in higher grades.
Any policy that creates such inequality is not only unfair, it flies in the face of sound principles of human resource management and is downright illegal. Article 27(3) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, as read with Article 43(b), unanimously prohibits all forms of discrimination and provides for decent accommodation.
Any teacher’s right to decent housing can be measured by several legal parameters, such as work experience, family size, special needs, and others, but of course not in the area of service.
