Audit Teachers Service Commission payroll now to enhance probity
A decision by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to conduct an audit of Teachers Service Commission (TSC) payroll will cast a welcome spotlight on the operations of the institution that deals with employees in the education sector.
Hopefully, it will help thaw the frosty—at times toxic—relations between the teachers’ unions, especially Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), and the commission.
Already, in a rare gesture, combative Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion has welcomed the move and promised to cooperate.
The genesis of the planned audit is the controversy that has dogged the teachers’ employer over the existence of two payrolls since last July as a result of the salaries hike dispute.
The fallout was on the implementation of the Sh54 billion pay deal, the third phase of the 2018/2019 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
In the row, some teachers—about 103,000 of the 320,0000—who were union members missed out on the increment.
It is this matter that Knut has relentlessly pursued for what it termed discrimination and disregard of the SRC advisory.
The salaries agency must ensure legal procedures, including confidentiality, are strictly adhered to.
And for credibility, it will be necessary to involve accountants from the Office of the Auditor General.
On its part, TSC should cooperate and embrace the philosophy of negotiation—give and take in an honest manner.
Among other things, the audit should scrutinise the workforce and regional distribution disparities that some politicians have complained about.
The findings will also inform future teacher hiring and training needs, particularly now that the Education ministry is immersed in implementing the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
This audit should lead to TSC cleaning up the payroll. This is Kenya, where financial malpractices and payment of ghost workers in government agencies and departments is almost a matter of course.
TSC has already announced that biometric registration of teachers will start in May.
The move is supported by teachers’ unions and education partners. The registration will help to verify teacher distribution, utilisation and specialisation.
The audit will enhance transparency—and even herald a new chapter in the TSC and union relations.
