On Tuesday, Teachers and their employer signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement that introduces a standard daily subsistence allowance for those working outside their duty stations.
The agreement, is meant to resolve disputes over allowances and basic pay which have seen learning regularly disrupted owing to strikes by teachers.
According to article published by Daily Nation, a teacher in job group G (P1) in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Malindi, Kilifi, Lamu, Kwale and Naivasha will now get a Sh6,300 daily subsistence allowance while those in job group P,Q and R in the same area will get Sh14,000.
P1 teachers in Nyeri, Eldoret, Kericho, Kakamega, Kisii, Embu, Nanyuki, Nakuru, Lodwar and Garissa will earn Sh4, 900 while a principal, senior principal and a chief principal in the same area will get Sh10,500.Those in other areas will earn Sh4,200 for P1 while the principal, senior principal and chief principal will get Sh8, 400.
Those traveling to foreign countries will also receive daily subsistence allowances depending on the country, with the highest paid teacher traveling to Iraq earning Sh70,000 a day while the lowest paid teacher will get Sh52,500 .
Lesotho will attract the lowest rate with travelers there earning Sh21, 300 for the highest grade and Sh15, 400 for the lowest.
The agreement, which was signed by Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Wilson Sossion and TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia, emphasizes the over arching role of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s advice in determining allowances and basic pay.
The agreement states that the highest paid teacher will continue to earn a basic salary of Sh109, 089 while the lowest paid will take home Sh16, 692 a month.
However, they will benefit from scores of allowances including leave, commuter, responsibility, special school, readers /facilitation /aid, house and hardship allowances and medical benefit. The agreement was rushed to allow both parties to begin negotiations for another CBA starting next month to cater for the period between July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2021.
“The parties undertake to negotiate on the basic salary in the next cycle of negotiations,” says the agreement signed on the sidelines of the ongoing Kenya Secondary School Heads Association conference in Mombasa.
Both parties on Tuesday described the agreement as historic, saying it is the first in 48 years and would mark the start of a harmonious relationship between the two.
“From today, there is going to be harmonious relations between us and TSC. This is the first time TSC top management and KNUT have worked very closely to deliver a document that has eluded teachers of this country for the last 48 years,” said Mr Sossion.
“This CBA formalises obligation of the parties and union members to adherence to the provisions of the Code of Regulations and Code of Conduct and Ethics for Teachers 2015 as the primary documents in the management of teachers,” said Mrs Macharia.