Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has sent a message to the teachers ahead of their planned nationwide strike which is about to start during the period of national examinations.
Speaking during the commissioning of a new classroom at Poiwake Secondary School in Kericho County on Thursday, February 24, Education CS publicly urged teachers to stop imminent mass action.
Magoha requested the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) to reconsider the planned strike to allow both the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations to be disrupted.
KCPE exam is going to start from 7th to 10th March while KCSE is going to start from 11th March.
Instead, he asked the union to withdraw the strike notice and stage it after the national examination was held. Justifying his position, the CS explained that if they dilute their means, they will ruin the education of the students and even disrupt the entire academic calendar.
“In terms of exams, I think we are ready to go and I want to thank my teachers. Also, I would publicly request KUPPET to withdraw its strike notice,” said Magoha.
He added, “Our children are not like chess pieces that should be played. It is their democratic right to issue strike statements but children belong to everyone including themselves.
So I would like to request them to postpone that strike and if possible continue it after the exam is over it would be fair game for the kids. an impending crisis.
Appreciating the efforts of the teachers in preparing the students, the CS said, “The exam will go on as expected.”
KUPPET on Wednesday 23 February issued a seven-day strike notice to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) led by Secretary General Akello Misori for failing to reopen talks on their 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Misori defended his move to Down Tools, saying he wrote a letter to TSC on January 17, demanding the CBA be reopened within 21 days.
“At the end of 21 days, the union said it would review the response of the commission before convening its organs to give further directions on further course of action,” the union said.
“The commission has accepted our letter and has promised to reply at a later stage after ‘inquiring’ the material,” the union said.
According to the CBA, teachers are demanding a hike of 30 to 70 percent, among other benefits.
Negotiations failed after the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) signed a non-monetary CBA with TSC, when Secretary General Collins Oyu took office after Wilson Sossion was ousted.
