Lawmaker Wants Teachers in Taita Taveta Given Hardship Allowances
The Member of Parliament for Wundanyi, Danson Mwashako, has urged the Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu, to expedite the process of listing Wundanyi, Taveta sub-counties, and Rong’e Zone in Mwatate as hardship areas.
Mwashako stated that despite the National Assembly’s recommendation, teachers in some parts of Taita Taveta County have not received hardship allowances.
In 2019, over 1,000 teachers working in the county had petitioned the National Assembly to compel the Teachers Service Commission to pay them hardship allowances, which they claimed they were entitled to but had been neglected and sidelined.
The Wundanyi MP noted that the teachers had been pushing to have the entire county classified as a hardship area since 2011 and demanded that all teachers be factored in the allowances.
Currently, only teachers in Voi sub-county and some parts of Mwatate sub-county receive hardship allowances at a rate of 30% of their basic salary.
Mwashako argued that areas such as Kishushe, Mwanda, and Wumingu in Wundanyi had not been designated as hardship areas despite having deplorable road networks, harsh climatic conditions, water scarcity, and human-wildlife conflicts, among other prevalent problems.
The MP appealed to other county leaders to join forces in pushing for the payment of hardship allowances, which he said would cushion teachers from poverty.
He pointed out that the disparity in allowances among teachers had negatively affected education in the region.
Machogu reportedly indicated that his ministry was compiling a list with the intention of resolving the matter.
However, Mwashako warned the government not to use the excuse of a lack of funds to deny teachers their rightful entitlement, vowing to keep pushing until a solution was found.
The issue of hardship allowances has long been a contentious one in Kenya, with teachers in many remote and difficult-to-reach areas protesting against the government’s failure to compensate them adequately.
The allowances are meant to compensate teachers working in areas with harsh living conditions, poor infrastructure, and inadequate amenities.
However, many teachers complain that they have not been paid despite working in hardship areas, leading to a sense of frustration and disillusionment among educators.
Lawmaker Wants Teachers in Taita Taveta Given Hardship Allowances
