Nanyuki: Special Needs Education (SNE) teachers in Laikipia have threatened to down their tools over alleged discrimination by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in implementing Career Progression Guidelines, as schools reopen for the third term this week. The teachers claim that the TSC has not implemented recommendations by the National Assembly regarding grading discrepancies, payment of salary arrears accumulated over eight years, and adherence to Career Progression Guidelines.
According to Kenya News Agency, the teachers, who voiced their grievances in Nanyuki, mentioned that the failure to implement these recommendations has caused them financial hardship and denied them benefits associated with their rightful job grades. Mwenda Mwithimbu, the SNE teachers’ coordinator in Laikipia County, expressed concerns about being discriminated against in 2018 when the payment scheme for teachers transitioned to the new system. Mwithimbu highlighted that SNE teachers were supposed to be placed two grades higher than their counterparts in regular schools due to the specialized nature of their work.
Mwithimbu further insisted that the TSC should grade SNE teachers accordingly, remunerate them, and backdate salary arrears to 2018. He pointed out that Parliament had issued a six-month ultimatum regarding this matter, but no action has been taken yet. Mwithimbu accused the commission of failing to implement a petition adopted by Parliament, describing the situation as discriminatory. He called for the correction and conversion of all SNE teachers’ grades in line with the approved Career Progression Guidelines, proper grading, backdating and payment of all salary arrears, and recognition of C2 as the appropriate entry grade for qualified SNE teachers.
The teachers also criticized the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) over reported monthly deductions from their salaries by TSC on behalf of the union. Mwithimbu stated that there is a union claiming to represent them, but there is no physical office, and the teachers do not know who elected them. Despite not being members, they are facing deductions in favor of KUSNET.
Meanwhile, Renyenjes Member of Parliament Muchangi Karemba mentioned in February that TSC had admitted before the Public Petitions Committee that job titles in the payroll and those contained in the 2018 Career Progression Guidelines had been aligned for SNE teachers. He explained that the commission attributed delays in implementing the changes to government payroll systems undergoing reconfiguration during migration to a new system. Karemba observed that while teachers’ basic salaries were not adversely affected, other benefits and allowances tied to specific grades had been impacted, causing confusion and denying SNE teachers their rightful recognition in the public service.
The petition concerning alleged discrimination by TSC in the career progression of SNE teachers was tabled in Parliament in 2023 by Dr. Robert Junua Wekesa, an academician.
