Post: MP to table bill to fast-track teachers’ retirement benefits

Tinderet Member of Parliament (MP) Julius Melly is set to table before the National Assembly a bill to fast-track payment of teachers' retirement benefits.This follows numerous complaints by retired teachers who have gone for more than three years without receiving their dues.The MP said lack of a legal framework was to blame for the delays which has thrown retired teachers into depression with some unable to meet their financial obligations including payment of school fees for their children.He said the delay which the bill targets to address was wrong and immoral and has subjected thousands of retired teachers across the country to untold suffering.'Teachers serve with dedication. They give all their life to the profession but when they reach the age of 60 it takes 2-3 years to have their pension processed. Some of them are sick,' he said.He said the bill which is being developed, will task the Director of Pensions, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Retirement Benefits Authority to ensure that all retirement benefits are paid out a month after a teacher exits service.He added that the bill will give guidelines on the processing of the required documents to ensure that everything is in place ahead of the retirement date.Through the bill, he said, teachers will be entitled to a three-month terminal leave to ensure that they work on the necessary paperwork ahead of exciting service.'It will be mandatory for the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to request for the documents from teachers due for retirements six months prior in order to start processing their pension,' he said.This, he said will reduce the turnaround time for releasing the funds to enable teachers settle after serving the government for years.Speaking in Tinderet during the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Tinderet branch meeting, the MP challenged teachers to embrace the culture of saving and at the same time join Saccos to guarantee themselves a stress-free retirement.'You must make prudent use of your salaries while still in service by joining hands and investing together so that you reap the benefits when you retire,' he said.Melly, who also chairs the Education Committee in the National Assembly, said the committee was pushing for the promotion of teachers to boost their morale and ensure they grow in service.Last year, the committee, he said, approved Sh1billion which saw some 36,000 teachers promoted.The committee, he added was engaging the executive to allocate more funds to ensure that at least 55,000 teachers are promoted annually.On the looming teachers strike, the MP said the committee was in talks with the National Treasury and TSC to ensure that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed in July 2021 is fully implemented.'I want to assure you that there is light at the end of the tunnel. The government appended its signature on the document and there is no way it can refuse to honor it,' he said.However, KNUT Assistant Secretary General Hesbon Otieno said th e strike notice issued by the Union was in force and all teachers will down their tools on 26th of this month if the government fails to implement the last phase of the CBA as agreed.'Even as they talk we are justified to go on strike. We have enjoyed the phase one of the CBA and teachers have been very loyal. Now they want to deny us the last phase and we shall not accept,' he said.The union which has joined forces with the Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET), he said was demanding for the confirmation of 46,000 Junior Secondary School teachers, promotion of 136,000 teachers who have stagnated and a review of the teachers' salaries to reflect to high cost of living.If the union makes real its threat, the industrial action will affect the reopening of schools for the third term and the administration of national examinations which kick off in October.Source : Kenya News Agency