The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has implemented a new pay deal this week, as agreed upon with teachers’ unions, but the outcome hasn’t left educators pleased. The pay increase ranges from Sh785 to Sh5,141, coinciding with the introduction of the housing levy and revised National Social Security Fund rates.
The deal, endorsed by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet), comes after initial resistance from Kuppet, which initially criticized the offer and characterized the employer’s actions as deceptive. This agreement translates to an increase of 2.4% to 9.5%.
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However, this pay boost comes with deductions. Teachers’ salaries will be reduced by 1.5% for the housing levy and Sh360 for NSSF. Earlier, teachers were excluded from NSSF deductions due to their membership in the Public Service Superannuation Scheme, a pension program.
The new payment structure starts this month, impacting August salaries (yet to be disbursed). TSC assured that the increase will be retroactively applied from July of this year.
Despite the increase, the extra pay will essentially offset the new mandatory deductions. Knut Secretary General Collins Oyuu stated that this raise aims to protect teachers from these deductions, as well as inflation and the high cost of living.
Some groups of teachers won’t benefit from this pay raise due to being at or below the minimum pay threshold. Those in pay grades C4, C5, D4, and D5 won’t see any increase. Even D1 teachers will only receive a Sh785 increment.
The new arrangement dictates that B5 pay grade teachers will receive a minimum raise of Sh2,074, from Sh21,756 to Sh23,830. C1 teachers will see a Sh2,592 increase, moving from 27,195 to 29,787. C2 teachers will experience an increase of Sh3,331, going from Sh34,955 to Sh38,286. C3 teachers will now earn a minimum of Sh45,671, up from 43,154.
However, teachers in groups C4 and C5 will have no increase, maintaining their salaries at Sh52,308 and Sh62,272, respectively. D1 teachers will only receive an additional Sh785, bringing their salary to 78,625. D2 teachers will get Sh1,455 extra, from 91,041 to 92,496, and D3 teachers will see an increase of Sh1,399, moving from Sh104,644 to 106,043.
D4 and D5 teachers won’t experience any pay raise, with their salaries remaining at Sh114,242 and Sh131,380, respectively.
Despite endorsing the pay deal, the unions haven’t overlooked concerns about the teacher promotion process. Kuppet criticized the career progression guidelines for disadvantaging lower-level teachers. They’ve established a technical committee comprising representatives from TSC and the unions to address these issues and matters related to compensation for teachers in temporary roles.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia reported that 14,738 promotions have been carried out, with 36,275 open vacancies for further promotions.
