Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) Commission for Education and Religious Education has made an appeal to teachers and the Ministry of Education to end the current teachers’ strike that is going on in the country.
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| Rt. Rev. Maurice M. Makumba; |
In the statement issued on January 7, 2015 by Rt. Rev. Maurice M. Makumba; the Chairman for the Commission for Education and Religious Education stated “The Catholic Church in Kenya is deeply concerned over the ongoing teachers’ strike, which has entered its third day and has disrupted learning in most public schools. This situation is causing pupils, students and their parents undue and unhealthy anxiety and inconvenience. It is unlikely that the time lost during the strike will be fully recovered.”
The statement came up following the crisis in public schools were teachers went on strike countrywide since the first day of the first term of 2015, paralyzing all learning activities, demanding for more pay.
The Ministry of Labour stepped in to convene a conciliation meeting for all parties involved to thrash out the disagreement that has resulted in industrial action by over 270,000 teachers.
The KCCB in the statement said, “It is regrettable that to date negotiations have borne no fruit and no solution has been reached to end the current stalemate. As a result, most children in public schools may continue to stay at home for a much longer time. As the leaders representing the various parties continue with negotiations, we urge the teachers to go back to class and let learning to continue.”
“We acknowledge that the teachers, through their unions, and the government may have valid and legitimate reasons for holding on to their different positions. As a Church, we respect this. However, we passionately appeal to the leaders concerned to reconsider their respective positions for the sake of the innocent children and of education in this country,” read the statement.
The statement concluded by stating that the Catholic Church offers to mediate in the negotiations so that an amicable solution is reached as quickly as possible for normal learning to resume.
Meanwhile, the latest information received from KCCB said that the Bishops have met with the member of Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) in an effort to end the stale mate. Some meetings have already taken place and more meetings are scheduled for the coming weeks.
SOURCE: KCCB Waumini Communications Office