KUPPET Officials Storm School, Eat Teachers’ Food

KUPPET Officials Storm School, Eat Teachers’ Food

Officials from the Machakos branch of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) stormed Matungulu Girls’ High School, where they ate food meant for teachers after discovering the staffroom empty.

The officials suspected some teachers were continuing to work despite the ongoing demonstrations, leading to a scramble for food among the union members.

A video circulating online captured the chaotic scene of KUPPET members storming the school’s staffroom, picking up plates, and helping themselves to the food.

Union Demands and Protests

KUPPET officials, including Secretary General Musembi Katuku, Chairman Bernard Warui, and Vice Chairperson Yvonne Musyoka, led a series of protests across Kathiani, Kangundo, and Matungulu sub-counties.

They called on parents to withdraw their children from schools, claiming that students were not safe due to the ongoing teachers’ strike.

The officials conducted awareness campaigns, explaining to parents the reasons behind the strike and urging them to remove their children from public secondary schools in the region.

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Katuku emphasized that all secondary school and college teachers were participating in the strike, urging parents to cooperate with KUPPET and keep their children at home until the government addressed their concerns.

The protests follow two earlier incidents where KUPPET officials stormed public schools in Machakos Town sub-county, including Machakos Girls High School, where they confronted the school principal.

The union is demanding that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) confirms the 46,000 junior secondary school teachers as permanent and pensionable employees, a condition they say must be met before the strike can be called off.

Katuku emphasized that junior secondary school students face a shortage of teachers, and without the confirmation of 46,000 JSS teachers, the quality of education would suffer.

He further noted that the government had failed to implement the second phase of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with KUPPET members and had not remitted third-party deductions from teachers’ pay slips to the relevant institutions.

Legal Action and Grievances

In response to the government’s failure to remit third-party deductions, KUPPET has announced plans to take legal action and vowed to continue the strike until their demands are satisfied.

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Katuku also highlighted the government’s refusal to allocate funds for teachers’ promotions, resulting in some schools operating without principals and deputy principals.

The union maintains that they have conducted interviews for promotions, but the lack of funding has prevented the implementation of these promotions. Katuku reiterated that these unresolved issues are the driving force behind the ongoing demonstrations.

KUPPET Officials Storm School, Eat Teachers’ Food

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