The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) members are set for a major industrial action starting May, if the government fails to implement its budget, due next month, and employ 5,000 additional teachers, union officials have said.

KNUT’s Secretary-general Wilson Sossion on Sunday told the press that it beats logic for the government to talk of its commitment in the education of the Kenyan child yet it is reluctant to employ enough teachers to check under staffing in public schools.

“It is sad to note that the government is set to employ at least 10,000 police recruits in the next fiscal year and a paltry 5,000 teachers. This is a clear indication that the government’s priorities are upside down so to say and we cannot let it happen,” Sossion said.

Sossion who spoke over the weekend at Chelemei village on the border of Chepalungu and Emurua Dikirr Constituencies, asked Kenyans to rise up and demand the recruitment of more teachers.

He added that the union is also demanding for the release of an implementation schedule of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that is acceptable to all teachers.

Allowance discrepancies

Earlier, Sossion was skeptical of the failure by the employer, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to address discrepancies in the award of house allowances to teachers in major towns.

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In a harmonized arrangement effected in November 2015, teachers working in Kisumu, Mombasa and Nakuru municipalities were to receive an average increment of Sh4,000 anchored on job groups.

“We have been questioning the criteria used by TSC to increase house allowances for some teachers while leaving others out. We want this addressed immediately,” he added.

Last year, teachers went on strike demanding a 50-60 per cent salary increase. The deal, however, was hatched, and they resumed work. Among other demands, teachers unions wanted the government to hire more teachers to mitigate the shortgae.