Newfound Knut, Kuppet alliance sounds suspicious

The supplementary budget passed after the 2024 Finance Bill was rejected and withdrawn was meant to enable the running of critical public services, including education.

This gave hope to 46,000 patriotic youths serving as intern Junior Secondary School teachers across Kenya, especially because they have been barely surviving on a Sh17,000 monthly stipend.

However, this hope seems to be fading with each passing day after the two teachers’ unions – Knut and Kuppet – seem to be pushing for the implementation of phase two of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) at this critical juncture when the hiring of JSS intern teachers on permanent and pensionable terms is set to be actualised.

The unions, in their newfound alliance, have threatened to call for nationwide strike at the start of third term.

The strike threat is meant to compel the TSC to prioritise the implementation of the CBA over the hiring of intern teachers.

This development is not a surprise, as the two unions all along opposed the four-week-long JSS intern teachers’ strike that paralyzed learning at the start of the second term.

Knut distanced itself from the JSS strike after failing to scuttle it through intimidation and blackmail, except for the intern teachers serving in primary schools, whom they were able to silence, warning them of dire consequences if they took part in the JSS teachers’ strike.

— John Melvin was one of the JSS intern teachers sacked for striking