The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has called for an amendment to the Pension Act so that its retired members can be paid by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and not the Director of Pensions.

The union says retired teachers are normally taken back and forth for years as they seek to get their retirement benefits with some even dying before accessing the funds.

Knut National Treasurer Muuo Ndiku said retired teachers are subjected to endless visits to the Director of Pensions offices, with claims that their files had “disappeared” used as bait for bribes by pension officials.

“Our elderly members and teachers in general are the most incorruptible people and it is unfortunate that when their files disappear, they are compelled to pay bribes in order for them to resurface,” he said.

Ndiku spoke in Limuru yesterday during the Kiambu West Knut branch Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Balanced diet

The union official also decried what he said were huge salary disparities among public officials in the country.

“Teachers should be paid more than politicians because they are the ones who lay the foundation for the country’s human capital. But it is unfortunate because their meagre income is hardly enough to afford them even a balanced diet yet they teach the learners about the importance of having a balanced meal,” he said.

At the same time, Ndiku said the union was demanding the immediate and unconditional absorption of teachers employed as interns by TSC.

“Teachers who have worked for six months should be employed on a permanent and pensionable basis without being subjected to further interviews. It should dawn on TSC that its obligation is to employ teachers and forward the budget to the government,” he said amid cheers from the teachers.

Knut Kiambu West Executive Secretary Michael Muna said teachers were in a dilemma on how to deal with rampant indiscipline cases in schools due to the outlawing of corporal punishment.

Muna regretted that some parents do not co-operate on how to discipline their children noting that on many occasions, the Knut branch officials have had to deal with cases of teachers being reported at police stations by parents for administering corporal punishment on their children.

“We would like to urge members to be extra careful lest they fall prey to parents who use pupils’ punishment as a  cash cow and use such cases to extort money from teachers,” he said.

Alcoholism

He also revealed that cases of emotional stress and mental health challenges leading to depression among the teaching fraternity were on the rise. He attributed the situation to economic hardships.

The branch secretary at the same time decried an increase in cases of alcoholism among teachers which, he said, had resulted in ineffectiveness in the delivery of services, desertion of duty and divorce.

“Alcoholism is a disease like any other and we would want to have it covered in our members’ medical scheme to enable those affected to get professional help with ease,” he said.