This archive report was first published on 15 June 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the economy, private school teachers in Kenya are facing a dire situation. Since March, their employers have failed to pay them salaries, leaving them without a means of sustenance.
According to Kenya National Union of Private Schools Teachers (KNUPST) Secretary General Dan Khasiani, teachers in most private schools have been suffering since institutions stopped remitting salaries months ago.
Mr. Khasiani emphasized that the issue is set to worsen with the gradual reopening of schools in September 2020, and urged the government to provide an economic stimulus package to support teachers and their families.
“By the time schools open, these teachers shall have gone for six months without a salary! This shall therefore mean that these teachers shall lack basic needs for all that duration,” said Mr. Khasiani.
Private school teachers, who have consistently produced top students in national exams, work in difficult conditions, with many schools turning their backs on their own teachers.
Already, private schools have appealed to the government for grants to sustain their wage bills, which amount to over Sh7 billion for 288,000 teaching and non-teaching staff.
Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA) chief executive Peter Ndoro attributed the schools' liquidity crisis to the inability to meet critical monthly commitments.
As of 2019, there were over 10,400 private primary schools with a population of 2.14 million children, and over 1,627 private secondary schools with a student population of 271,618 children, totaling over 2.4 million children in private schools.
