All Teachers in this County to Receive Hardship Allowances, Senate Probe
Senators have initiated inquiries into allegations regarding the unequal distribution of hardship allowances among teachers in Taita Taveta County.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Taita Taveta Branch, submitted a petition to the Senate, asserting that all teachers in the county are eligible for hardship allowances according to Legal Notice No. 534 of 1997.
Additionally, the union cited the Collective Bargaining Agreement of July 13, 2021, involving the Teachers Service Commission, KNUT, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers, and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers, which also stipulates that all teachers in the county should receive hardship allowances.
Despite the existence of these regulations, KNUT, Taita Taveta Branch, claimed that not all teachers in Taita Taveta County are receiving hardship allowances. Specifically, they noted that hardship allowances are being granted to teachers in Voi and parts of Mwatate Subcounties while excluding several other areas.
These excluded regions include Taveta Subcounty, Taita Subcounty, Ronge Zone of Mwatate Subcounty, Mbololo Secondary School, and John Mark Mwanjumwa Secondary School in Voi Sub-County.
The union argued that teachers in these areas require hardship allowances to mitigate challenges such as insecurity stemming from marauding wild animals from Tsavo National Park, the high cost of water, and impassable roads.
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Additionally, they pointed out the lack of rental housing near schools, significant workload due to understaffing, high medical care costs due to the absence of medical facilities, and communication difficulties caused by poor network coverage in these regions.
The petition emphasized that there is no justification for selectively awarding hardship allowances to some areas in Taita Taveta County while excluding others, as these areas share comparable characteristics in terms of climate, topography, security conditions, and social amenities.
Furthermore, the union highlighted that this discrimination in hardship allowance allocation discourages teachers from accepting positions in areas not entitled to such allowances, thereby exacerbating staffing issues in schools.
Consequently, KNUT called upon the Senate to recommend that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) grant hardship allowances to all teachers working in Taita Taveta County without any further discrimination.
All Teachers in this County to Receive Hardship Allowances, Senate Probe
