A Kisii University don has accused the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) of directly contributing to dismal quality education delivery in public schools by failing to pay teachers handsomely as ordered by an industrial court in September 2015.
TSC has been tussling with the giant teachers union, KNUT, for months with the latter appealing an appellate court decision that quashed the industrial court ruling which offered teachers a pay increment of 50-60% in the Supreme court. Prof. Ondigi Abaya faulted TSC and said it should take the blame for perennial industrial action by teachers which sabotages education in the schools.
''Time has come for TSC to swallow its pride and pay teachers. The increment is too small and as an educationist. I really wonder why the government can’t pay teachers to avoid industrial actions which we see annually,'' he said.
Abaya faulted parliament for sleeping on its job and challenged MPs to fight for the plight of teachers for the sake of improving the quality of delivery in schools.
''We all know the repercussions of forcing someone to do something yet he or she is poorly paid. We will continue having our schools perform badly if the pay issue isn’t settled,” said Abaya.