Teachers in Taveta and Wundanyi sub-counties will soon begin receiving hardship allowances, in addition to other benefits for teachers working in marginalized areas.
This follows a stakeholder meeting with union leaders and other education stakeholders to agree on a progressive approach to addressing the challenges that teachers face.
The employer agreed to expedite the allocation process during a meeting led by TSC vice-chairperson Leila Ali at the county commissioner’s office in Mwatate.
“The process is now at an advanced stage and we are hoping that it shall soon be finalised,” she said during the Tuesday meeting.
Officials from the Kenya National Union of Teachers, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers, and the Kenya Primary Schools Head Teachers Association, among others, attended the meeting.
The commission promised to investigate the challenges of the area’s teacher shortage as well as the promotion of deserving tutors
More than 1,000 teachers in the county petitioned the National Assembly in 2019 to force the employment body to pay them hardship allowances.
The union, through the Kuppet county executive secretary, Shedrack Mutungi, claimed that they had been neglected and sidelined despite the fact that the area is one of those where teachers are entitled to the allowance.
Since 2011, the teachers have been advocating for the county as a whole to be designated as a hardship area.
Only teachers in the Voi sub-county and parts of the Mwatate sub-county receive a hardship allowance of 30% of their basic salary.
Other areas of the county have not been designated as hardship areas, despite their poor road networks, harsh climatic conditions, scarcity of water, and human-wildlife conflicts, among other issues.
The stakeholders pushed for a quarter of residents to be considered for promotions so that local teachers could get a chance.
