The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has reconsidered the list of sub-counties that will be Referred to as Hardship areas. Teachers who have been working in these regions have been getting incentives (hardship allowances) to help sustain them in those places by recompensing for lack of social amenities, infrastructure and a challenging environment.
Among the affected areas that TSC will seize to pay hardship include Nyandarua County (Kinangop, Kipipiri, ol Joro Orok, Ndaragwa, Ol Kalou Sub-Counties), Kigumo Sub-County, Murang'a Sub County, Kandara Sub-County and Nyahururu Sub-County.
The commission made an official statement that will see teachers working in these areas have their Salaries reduced.
NOTICE; We’ll post a full list of new hardship areas soon
This announcement came following the mapping kick-off and reviewing of hardship regions in the country by the TSC in September this year. The salary decrease of hardship allowance in areas where it has been scraped off is expected to start this week on 1st December 2020.
TSC officers had been dispatched to different sub-counties to evaluate and collect data for centres to be dismissed due to development achieved in such areas over time and others to be included to enjoy the incentives because of the conditions which are likely to demotivate teachers from working in such areas.
Two months ago World Bank called for the scrapping of hardship allowances paid to the state to workers to save ksh.3 billion as part of cost-cutting measures to return the country on track after increased spending during coronavirus pandemic.
“The review of hardship zones is needed as several regions have developed their infrastructure and social amenities over the last two decades and are no longer classified hardship areas,” read the World Bank report on Kenya Public Expenditure Review.
Hardship allowances per job group
TSC has listed some counties as hardship areas but not all schools or Sub counties are captured as hardship centres. Previous Counties listed as hardship areas by TSC were Turkana, Mandera, Samburu, Marsabit, Wajir, Lamu, Kwale, Isiolo, Taita Taveta, Garissa, Tana River, Kilifi, Narok and West Pokot.
Hardship allowances per job group
This will hardly affect teachers who have been using the hardship allowances to acquire loans.
