Magoha’s Strong Advice to Teachers Over Pay Rise
Outgoing Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha challenged teachers and their leaders to change their stance if they want President William Ruto to raise their pay.
Speaking at the Post World Teachers Celebrations in Kirinyaga County on Monday, October 10, the CS argued that protests and solidarity chants would not result in the much-needed raise.
He urged them to look inward and find better ways to advocate for higher pay and have the state honor their collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
He explained that solidarity chants were only cheap because no government would take them seriously.
“The work they (teachers) are already doing, there’s no way any government will be able to pay them. So, when you say solidarity and haki yetu (our rights), you’re selling yourself cheap. That is not to say that you should not to negotiate for better terms which is your right.
"I would like to tell you that anybody who teaches is a tutor starting with my late mother who taught me a lot of things when I was sitting next to the traditional jiko,” he explained.
In his address to the CBC, he explained that it was designed to empower children through the tutorship of their teachers and parents.
Despite his mother’s lack of formal education, he praised her for instilling knowledge in him.
“These are things that no teacher has ever taught me to date and that is the strength of the CBC, when we say that there should be parental engagement. There’s no parent who is illiterate.
"Don’t I look extremely good and intelligent and my mother never went to school so excuse me for talking rubbish,” he added.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) wrote to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in January 2022, requesting that the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) be renegotiated.
Teachers’ salaries and promotions have been pushed for by the union.
Furthermore, the KNUT president requested that the punitive teacher transfers be reversed, arguing that the employer should transfer tutors from one station to another based on need.
Teachers were dissatisfied with Magoha’s performance in reviewing teachers’ salaries as of July 2022.
