Kenia

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Kenia: Lecturers’ strike set to end as Sh5.2m is released

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Kenia / 19 de julio de 2017 / Por: KENNEDY KIMANTHI –  FAITH NYAMAI / Fuente: http://www.nation.co.ke

Striking university workers are set to resume duty after the Education ministry on Tuesday released the second and final tranche of Sh5.2 billion for their Sh10 billion collective bargaining agreement.

The staff have been on a two-week job boycott that paralysed learning at 31 institutions of higher learning.

In a letter to vice-chancellors, University Education Principal Secretary Collete Suda said the money would be reflected in the lecturers’ bank accounts on Wednesday.

Lecturers and other staff at the 31 institutions will receive the money.

SH5.2 BILLION

The government had last week agreed to release the Sh5.2 billion to them at or before the end of July.

Early this month, the government released only Sh4.8 billion of the Sh10 billion in the CBA signed in March.

Members of the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu); the Kenya University Staff Union (Kusu); and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudheiha) started boycotting work two weeks ago after the government failed to release the balance of Sh5.2 billion they had agreed on.

NEGOTIATIONS

Earlier Tuesday, Uasu secretary-general Constantine Wasonga said the national government, through Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum of the Federation of Kenya Employers, had expressed commitment to concluding negotiations on the 2017-2021 CBA.

Kusu secretary-general Charles Mukhwaya and Kudheiha said the return-to-work formula is valid only if the government fulfils its promise.

“We will not play a cat and mouse game. When we agree on a deal, the agreement must be fulfilled,” said Mr Mukhwaya.

JOB EVALUATION

At the same time, the lecturers called on a transparent job evaluation.

On Tuesday, Uasu issued a petition to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), demanding the job evaluation be transparent and participatory.

“We want the SRC to convene a stakeholders’ forum urgently to discuss the way forward,” said Dr Wasonga. “We are not going to accept a defective job evaluation.”

Fuente noticia: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/education/Lecturers–strike-set-to-end-as-Sh5-2m-is-released/2643604-4021394-bocd61/index.html

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Kenia: Fred Matiang’i orders officers to inspect schools thrice a week

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Kenia / 19 de julio de 2017 / Por: VALENTINE OBARA / Fuente: http://www.nation.co.ke

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has ordered education officers to carry out inspection of schools three times a week.

Dr Matiang’i said the strict measure targeting basic education institutions will help the government to assess the quality of teaching and learning and the pupils’ welfare.

Speaking in Kajiado County after officially opening the Amboseli International School, he said inspections must not just focus on how children receive learning instructions.

“There can be no quality education if teachers are not in class and if there are no instructional materials,” said Mr Matiang’i, adding: “We should raise our children to be happy and confident in life.”

QUALITY STANDARDS

The directive was made in the wake of a series of inspections conducted by the CS in several schools countrywide, where he found that quality standards were wanting in many of them.

Among the major concerns noted during the tours that drew criticism from some quarters were teacher absenteeism, poor learning infrastructure, lack of adequate learning resources such as books—despite government funding—pathetic sleeping facilities and poor meals for students in boarding schools.

WRITE REPORTS

Quality Assurance and Standards Officers will now spend three days in the field inspecting schools within their jurisdictions and only two days in their offices.

They will then be required to write a report on their observations, including recommendations.

Dr Matiang’i also stressed the need for schools offering the international curriculum to ensure that their students study the history of Kenya and also Kiswahili up to Grade 9, which is the equivalent of Form Two under the 8-4-4 system of education.

Fuente noticia: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/education/Fred-Matiang-i-calls-for-strict-school-inspection-/2643604-4019062-ur9lg4z/index.html

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Kenia: School reopens as parents assure teachers of protection

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Kenia / 18 de julio de 2017 / Por: GODFREY OUNDOH / Fuente: http://www.nation.co.ke

The school in Samburu West where pupils attacked teachers three weeks ago has been reopened.

Kirimon Primary had been closed indefinitely as the fate of around 756 pupils was left hanging in the balance after teachers in the institution vowed not to go back following the attack that saw five of them injured.

The attack by 12 male pupils believed to be above the age of 18 was directed at female teachers for allegedly punishing them after misconduct.

TRANSFERRED
Three of the teachers were seriously injured and were rescued by locals neighbouring the school and a police officer from the nearby Kirimon AP post.

Thirteen teachers were later transferred to other schools within Maralal Town and Archers post.

The school’s re-opening comes after a meeting between education officials, parents, teachers and pupils at the school on Thursday.

CONSULT
According Samburu Central Sub-county director of Education Abdikarim Mohamed, the solution was found after days of consultations between parents, locals and stakeholders.

Mr Mohamed said the parents agreed to take responsibility for the incident and forward the culprits to the police for prosecution.

He added that locals and parents and agreed to protect teachers.

Fuente noticia: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/School-reopens-as-parents-assure-teachers-of-protection/1056-4015298-2b1ot5z/index.html

 

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Kenyan Govt Agrees to Pay Lecturers Their Wage Balance

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Kenia/17 de Julio de 2017/Allafrica

Resumen: El gobierno se ha inclinado ante la presión y accedió a pagar a los profesores sorprendentes  10.000 millones de shillings que han estado exigiendo.

The state has bowed to pressure and agreed to pay-up striking lecturers U.S.$50 million owed to them on top of the U.S.$46 million it has already paid.

The government has bowed to pressure and agreed to pay striking lecturers the Sh10 billion they have been demanding.

University Education Principal Secretary Collete Suda on Thursday said a Sh5.2-billion balance would be paid to the dons before July 31.

 The government had already released Sh4.8 billion to the university staff but they had rejected it demanding the full amount.

Fuente: http://allafrica.com/stories/201707130572.html

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Kenia: Teachers oppose deductions to new pension scheme

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Kenia / 12 de julio de 2017 / Por: OUMA WANZALA / Fuente: http://www.nation.co.ke

Teachers have rejected deduction of 7.5 per cent of their salaries towards their new pension scheme starting this month, saying they had not been consulted.

Other civil servants said even though they support the idea, it should be implemented with caution as no mechanisms have been put in place to safeguard their money.

Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary-general Wilson Sossion said while teachers agree that the Pension Act has been in place since 2012, they are not aware of the existence of the benefits of the scheme.

SCHEME

“We hereby demand you do not implement this scheme or proceed to deduct any money from teachers until we have a meeting to concur on the implementation modality and commencement date,” said Mr Sossion in a letter to Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Nancy Macharia dated July 5.

In the letter, copied to Cabinet secretaries Henry Rotich (National Treasury) and Fred Matiang’i (Education) as well as Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service Joseph Kinyua, Mr Sossion warned that any implementation of the scheme would be construed to be taking away the benefits teachers have enjoyed all along.

PENSION

However, sources at the TSC told the Nation that there is no official communication on the rollout of the scheme.

Director of Pensions Shem Nyakutu last week told the Business Daily that the new scheme would commence at the end of July, coinciding with the salaries review to avoid reducing the civil servants’ pay.

Former Retirement Benefits Authority CEO Edward Odundo has been appointed chairman of the board of trustees of the new scheme.

Kenya’s State employees have since independence enjoyed a benefit scheme that is fully paid for by taxpayers through the Consolidated Fund.

Union of Civil Servants of Kenya secretary-general Tom Odege said the contributory scheme is long overdue. He, however, said: “They have not told us where they will keep the deductions and if they will keep part of their bargain.”

Fuente noticia: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/education/Teachers-oppose-pay-deductions-to-new-pension-scheme/2643604-4009050-vyko20z/index.html

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Sexuality education for Kenya’s youth: When the evidence is on the wall, but politics gets in the way

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Kenya/July 11, 2017/By: Diana Warira* /Source: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke

The need to provide sexuality education for Kenya’s youth has been the subject of discussion in Kenya’s development circles for decades. Whether sexuality education has a critical role in improving the sexual and reproductive health outcomes of youth, or not, is no longer the debate. Why? One may ask. Well, research evidence already shows that sexuality education reduces risky sexual behaviour among youth. This means that when youth are well-informed about their sexuality, then the likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviour reduces. Those who are abstaining from sex continue abstaining, and those who are already having sex practice safer sex. This means that sexuality education has potential to reduce teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortions, and HIV infections among other negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes in Kenya.

However, despite the strong evidence supporting the need for sexuality education for Kenya’s youth, the momentum the government had gained over recent years towards incorporating sexuality education in the formal education curriculum seems to have waned, drastically. To quote one development practitioner, the ‘matter was shelved.’

We have an enabling policy environment, right?

More puzzling is the fact that the government has a policy outlining the need for sexuality education for Kenya’s youth, adolescents to be precise. The Ministry of Health’s National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Policy of 2015 outlines contributing to increased access to ASRH information and age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education (AACSE) as one of the policy objectives. The Policy goes on to outline that it shall “Strengthen ASRH information and AACSE programmes for out-of-school and in-school adolescents.”

Further, in order to ensure the policy recommendations are implemented, the Policy stresses the use of a multi-sectoral approach cutting across various ministries and state agencies. Top on the list of ministries to be involved in the Policy implementation is the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST). The Policy stipulates that MoEST shall implement sexuality education, AACSE to be precise, in-line with the Education Sector Policy on HIV and AIDS of 2013. Other areas of involvement for MoEST as outlined in the Policy are: facilitating provision of information to parents on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents within the school set up, and strengthening partnership with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to provide ASRH information and services in schools.

That said, it is clear that the question of whether we have a policy framework, or not, within which to implement sexuality education is no longer valid. Several groups of stakeholders, including a technical working group on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, have convened in order to deliberate how to move the policy recommendations into action. However, all these efforts seem to have hit a snag.

While the mandate of ensuring good sexual and reproductive health outcomes among youth falls on the MoH, implementation at the school level lies with MoEST. A good point to note is that we have a National Curriculum Policy of 2015, which outlines various education reforms driven by the Second Medium Term Plan of Kenya Vision 2030. The Policy seeks to ensure life-long learning and steer learners towards achieving their full potential.

Ensuring that youth have good sexual and reproductive health outcomes is a major determinant as to whether youth achieve their full potential or not. However, the glaring absence of any mention of sexuality education (or the more salient option, family life education) in the National Curriculum Policy as part of the curriculum reforms is evidence to the disconnect in commitments between the various state agencies charged with steering the ASRH Policy and other policy frameworks forward. The 2015 National Curriculum Policy was an excellent opportunity for MoEST to take up some of the recommendations of the 2015 ASRH Policy in order to ensure joint effort towards improving the sexual and reproductive health of Kenya’s youth. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that the ASRH Policy was published a few months ahead of the National Curriculum Policy hence there was room to incorporate these elements in the latter.

A middle ground perhaps?

The lack of collective political will within government therefore, is the greatest hurdle standing in the way of realising sexual and reproductive health among Kenyan youth. It is widely known that a notable proportion of adolescents in Kenya are engaging in sex. The 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) reported that half of women and men begin having sex by age 18. Moreover, 15 percent of women and 22 percent of men aged 20-49 had sex by age 15. Opponents of sexuality education have pointed out that this type of education, if implemented in schools, will lead to moral decadence, spike curiosity among adolescents to experiment with sex, among other issues. However, shouldn’t the government, parents, teachers and other stakeholders be working collaboratively to ensure these young ones have the right information regarding their sexual and reproductive well being? The ASRH Policy is very clear on the emphasis on ‘age-appropriate’ sexuality education. This means that information shared with a 10 year old is very different from that shared with an 18 year old. The fixation on the ‘comprehensive’ bit of sexuality education has led many to throw out the entire agenda. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.

While the arguments against sexuality education may be hinged on genuine fears, it is time we separated the evidence from the myths and opinions. It is at this point that the government agencies charged with steering this matter should step up to provide guidance on the best way forward. Sexuality education, comprehensive or not, is a critical remedy to the runaway morals we are witnessing among our youth, and a long-term fix to the declining sexual and reproductive health outcomes. If nothing is done, we shall not only miss the sustainable development targets on improving the health and wellbeing of Kenyan youth, but also the Vision 2030 goals. Therefore, a key question for us to answer is – should we let go of what the evidence says because the reality makes us uncomfortable, or should we all find a middle ground and save our youth while we still have the chance? 


*Diana Warira is a Communications Officer at the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP)

Source:

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/ureport/story/2001246878/sexuality-education-for-kenya-s-youth-when-the-evidence-is-on-the-wall-but-politics-gets-in-the-way

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Kenya: Ministry Tight-Lipped on Balance for University Workers

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Kenia/10 de Julio de 2017/Allafrica

Resumen: Este miércoles se ha anunciado una huelga ante el Ministro de Educación quien anunció el saldo Sh5.2 mil millones para los trabajadores de la universidad, por lo que han prometido no reanudar el trabajo hasta que el aumento.

The Ministry of Education was on Wednesday tight-lipped on when it will release the Sh5.2 billion balance for striking university workers who have vowed not to resume work until they receive the money.

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i did not respond to our inquiries on the payment of the salary increase to the more than 27,700 workers.

On Wednesday, the Trade Union Congress, which brings together at least four unions, asked university staff to stay put until their demands are met.

On Sunday, Dr Matiang’i announced that Sh4.7 billion had been wired into the respective bank accounts of 31 public universities and colleges and the balance would be paid in the 2017/2018 financial year, which commenced on Saturday.

RECEIVED MONEY

Vice-Chancellors Committee chairman Francis Aduol confirmed on Tuesday that the institutions had received the money and were processing the payments. However, on Wednesday Universities Academic Staff Union secretary-general Constantine Wasonga challenged the government to release the Sh5.2 billion, saying, saying: «We are already in the financial year 2017/2018

«We are asking our members to step up their demonstrations. Tomorrow, we will be at Dr Matiang’i’s office for a major demonstration to demand our money since he assured us during negotiations that there was Sh10 billion. The National Treasury and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission also confirmed that».

Dr Wasonga ruled out further engagement with the VCs on the 2013-2017 collective bargaining agreement, saying their focus was on the September talks for the 2017-2021 cycle.

 Fuente: http://allafrica.com/stories/201707060079.html

 

 

 

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