The Kenya National Union of Teachers has decried the oppression of teachers in schools located in multinational tea estates in Konoin, Bomet County.
Branch Executive Secretary Desmond Langat says the vice has led to demoralisation, which has taken toll on the tutors’ performance.
Addressing the press, he accused the companies of forcing teachers to pay rent, yet they already grappling with high cost of living.
“Our teachers in the tea estates are suffering a lot. Why force a teacher to pay rent yet the learners in these estates belong to employees and the local communities? This is wrong and unacceptable,” he said.
He observed that the Union had engaged the companies on several issues, which include rent and had reached an agreement.
According to him, schools in the estates accommodate children belonging to employees and the local communities.
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Langat claimed the teachers have no other source of income rather than their salaries, further lamenting that the tutors are not allowed to keep livestock nor grow crops.
“Teachers in the estates have no other source of income apart from the salaries. Unfortunately, these teachers cannot even keep chicken nor grow crops in the garden. As a union, we demand that this oppression stops forthwith, failure to which we shall withdraw our members from all schools in the estates,” added Langat.
The Union now wants the companies to stop the oppression and allow teachers to work freely, threatening to withdraw their members from the companies.
By Kimutai Langat
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