Kajiado Union of Private Schools chairman Mark Denis says his members have not received their salaries since March
By Ruth Seleina
Kenya National Union of Private School (KNUPS) and Board of Management (BoM) teachers in Kajiado County are now seeking to be cushioned from the prevailing economic hardship occasioned by Covid-19 pandemic that has rendered them jobless.
According to the Union Chairman and Coordinator Mark Denis, over 4,600 teachers employed under BOM and Private Schools in the county are at risk of starvation as they are now in the fourth month without pay since March.
Denis said they are now asking for government intervention (both at the National and County level) since they are trained and registered teachers by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) yet they are at the mercy of private employers who have been affected by Covid-19 pandemic.
He noted that other sectors have been considered vulnerable by the Government and have been given stimulus package to cushion them from the adverse effects of the pandemic and the teachers have been forgotten.
“We are now calling on the Government to consider us part of the vulnerable group in the society and give us sustenance money as we also wait for the schools to re-open in September as per the Ministry of Education report,” said the Chairman. “Though with the current situation it may not happen and our situation is now worsening,” he added.
Denis said they are teaching Kenyan children and now they have been left to languish without pay because they are not in the Government system like the other teachers who are employed by TSC.
Similarly, Boniface Mwenda who accompanied the Kenya National Union of Private School and BOM teachers to deliver their plea in Ngong Sub County Education Offices yesterday decried their deteriorating situation.
Mwenda argued that most of the teachers do not live in their homes and they cannot afford rent and other basic needs including medication during this pandemic period.
“We are the majority in the education sector in Kajiado County and most of the time the salary we get is not sustainable and during this pandemic we have nothing to offer our families,” said the distressed teacher.
He noted that most of the teachers are now dependent on Casual jobs well known as “Kazi ya Mkono’ to make ends meet during this tragic period of Covid-19.
