The trend to engage low cost teachers on short term contracts is rapidly increasing in many third world countries. To date, Niger has about half of its teaching force under short-term renewable contracts. Kenya, too, will beginning this month, employ new teachers on a three year renewable contract and they will be paid salaries far much less than those of their counterparts who are employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) on permanent and pensionable terms. It is believed that the move was necessitated by the pressure of limited government budgets for education and increased demand resulting from efforts to ensure universal access to education.
From the government`s standpoint, this plan points to a very glistening future in that it (government) will among other things have the plasticity to make decisions on contracting low cost teachers as well as to make better use of them with finances being the least of its worries.
However, many stakeholders are scared stiff with the way the government is determined to gloss over serious ethical and legal concerns surrounding the whole exercise. To begin with, unlike in countries like Niger where paraprofessionals (lesser trained, lesser paid and employed teaching staff) are contracted and paid comparatively better, in Kenya fully trained and certified primary and secondary teachers will be contracted and paid a net salary of Kshs10, 000 and Kshs 15,000 respectively. It is also worth noting that those to be contracted will not be entitled to travel, medical and housing allowances. On housing for instance, CAP 226 clause 9 of the Employment Act states that “…it is the responsibility of every employer to provide reasonable accommodation for each of his employees…” In the same vein, it is also expected that the employer will provide medical as well as travel allowances to his employees. On this count alone, it is obvious that the government is in direct violation of the Employment Act.
Secondly, from the teachers’ standpoint, it is feared that the government will use low cost teacher contracting as a caveat to limit both the annual and negotiated salary increases and allowances payable to teachers who are in the permanent and pensionable employment.
Thirdly, and most worrisome, is the fact that the government appears to be showing a blatant disregard of the teaching profession as is evidenced in the fact that it can subject an individual who has labored for at least four years in the university training as a teacher to a form of employment whose terms are most debasing. Pundits project a serious depletion of teachers in the next five years. They argue that more and more would be teachers will shun teaching as a career. Many of those already in the profession will exit due to lack of adequate motivation.
In addressing the serious shortfall, the government will resort to paraprofessionals (quacks). This is obviously a far cry from what was envisaged in sessional paper No.1 of 2005 in which quality management of the education sector coupled with better remuneration of the teaching workforce were cited as the bedrock to the attainment of Universal Education for All(UFA) by 2015.
According to Dr. Alec Fyfe, an international consultant on education issues and a former staff member of the ILO and of UNICEF, low cost teacher contracting has an inverse relationship with the quality of education. He points out that the need to protect quality consequent on the use of low cost teacher contracting may very well nullify any intended cost savings.
From the foregoing, it is incumbent upon the government to rethink its strategy in managing education. The Kenyan Government must take its commitments under international standards soberly and appropriately. This entails devoting at least six per cent of the country`s national income to education. This, in my view, would make teaching an attractive profession which will in turn improve the quality of education in the country.
TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis
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