Sossion breathing fire over teachers’ interdiction
The Kenya National Union Teachers (Knut) says it may be forced to call for a countrywide strike if the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) does not revoke its decision to interdict 160 teachers.
The 160 teachers in the eight counties were interdicted for boycotting and disrupting training on the new competency-based curriculum (CBC) last month.
The interdicted teachers first received show-cause letters on April 25 and thereafter they were notified of their interdiction on May 3.
This action has not gone down well with Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion.
INTERDICTION
“An injury to one is an injury to all. This is a matter that we are going to take very stern action against TSC. It is an act of provocation on the union,” said Sossion on Wednesday.
Sossion has blamed TSC for taking an action he says violates the rights of union members.
Sossion’s claims are contained in a letter copied to Education CS Prof George Magoha, CS Labor Ukur Yattan, and Cotu Secretary General Francis Atwoli.
STERN ACTION
“The next cause of action will not be pleasant to this country, this is a highly-calculated strategy to silence the union from speaking about critical issues. CBC will not be rolled out through force,” reads the letter.
The teachers have until May 26 to defend themselves in writing or get fired.
Counties affected include Kisii, Machakos, Makueni, Kilifi, Kwale, Kakamega, Vihiga and Bungoma.