Nairobi, KENYA: Kenya union of post primary education teachers, KUPPET, are now calling on their employer- Teacher Service Commission TSC,to harmonize teachers’ house allowances based on their Job groups.
According to KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori, house allowances cannot be based on the geographic area where the teacher works, but rather according to experience and the job group he/she has.
“Nairobi teachers at Grade C2, which is equivalent to job Group K,take home sh.16,500 in house allowances while, those from the rest of the country earn only sh.7,500. The gaps are much higher at higher grades,” he stated.
He noted,that teachers’ right to decent housing can be weighed on a number of legitimate parameters such as work experience, family size, special needs and other factors but certainly not on one’s area of service.
He further said that, market dynamics have shifted and that it is wrong to assume that teachers in Nairobi pay the highest rents in the country.
“Many more Kenyans live in urban areas, which have seen rental charges skyrocket across the board,” he added.
The union now wants an urgent meeting with TSC to discuss the matter even further.
In a letter to TSC dated 15th February 2019, KUPPET has registered its opposition to the current remuneration policy that pegs teachers house allowances on their area of service.
At the moment, the employer bands workers into four different regional categories, with Nairobi at the top of the ladder. The other categories include; large cities like Mombasa,Kisumu, Malindi and Naivasha.
County headquarters like Nyeri, Eldoret, Kericho, Kakamega, Garissa, Kisii and Nakuru fall under second category as the rest of the country comes last.
