This archive report was first published on 21 June 2020.
Kenya's Board of Management (BoM) teachers have been left reeling since schools closed in March, with many struggling to make ends meet amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr John Obosi, a teacher employed by the BOM in a public secondary school in Kisumu, has been doing odd jobs to make ends meet, including masonry work, which is hard to come by in the current times.
"I've not been paid for four months," he said, revealing that he has been forced to take up masonry work to make ends meet.
Mr Obosi is among thousands of BoM and private school teachers across the country struggling to make ends meet since the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Some of these teachers have now turned to menial jobs to survive, from operating boda bodas to casual labor such as working at construction sites.
Mr Owino Fida, a young BOM teacher at Liunda Community School in Nyang'oma, has turned to fishing to earn a living, earning between Sh100 and Sh500 per day as a fisherman.
"I decided to try a hand at fishing to save my family from starving," he said.
With no school fees forthcoming, many schools are unable to pay the BOM teachers, leading to a crisis that has been persisting across the country.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has petitioned the national government to allocate funds to cater for the payment of BoM teachers to help alleviate their suffering.
"A few lucky ones have been put on a flat rate payment of Sh5000," said Kuppet Kisumu Executive Secretary Zablon Awange.
"This has subjected them to pecuniary embarrassment as they are struggling to meet their expenses," he added.
Representatives of an estimated 500 affected teachers in the county have appealed to the government to consider them as a vulnerable group.
"We wish that it considers us too and gives us some money to keep us going," said a female teacher who recently landed a waiter's job at a hotel in Kericho.
"It is not a walk in the park for most of us as we have to seek alternative sources of income to enable us pay for food, rent and medication," she said.
Meanwhile, in Vihiga, an MP is proposing the use of CDF funds to cushion teachers in his constituency from the effects of Covid-19.
"We are finding out whether CDF can be used to pay workers engaged by BoM in our schools," said Sabatia MP Alfred Agoi.
