Nairobi — National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi says government has no finances to employ an additional 20,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers amid a looming teachers' strike on Monday.
Mbadi said mobilising resources for teachers' salary adjustments was a struggle and a such government could not commit further financing for employment of teachers.
He also told Citizen TV that government was short of funds to confirm JSS teachers retained on intership basis, a key demand by teachers unions.
"We don't have resources to recruit JSS teachers on permanent and for the additional 20,000 that was reduced in the estimates. There is a shortfall of about Sh13 billion unless we make budget adjustments, which we don't have space for," Mbadi said Thursday night.
The government had planned to employ teachers currently on internships at a budget of Sh18.3 billion.
Mbadi spoke even as teachers unions including Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) issued coordinated strike notices demanding for the full implementation of the 2021-2025 CBA agreement.
The listed the immediate recruitment of 20,000 new JSS teachers, prompt remittance of all third-party deductions and a commitment to begin discussions on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) among key demands to forestall the strike due on August 26.
On Wednesday, August 21, the unions vowed to proceed with the planned strike despite the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) announcing government had released Sh13.5 billion for the implementation of the second phase of an existing CBA due July 1, 2024.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia revealed that the government released the funds following strategic talks held by the Commission and the teachers' unions as directed by President William Ruto.
Macharia therefore directed the teachers' unions to withdraw their strike notices to avoid disruption of learning activities as schools set to re -open for third term next week.
"We therefore beseeching all our teachers to report to schools on Monday for the start of the Third Term now that the Government has released funds," she urged.
