Over 80pc of BoM teachers earn less than Sh10,000 -report

A staggering 82.2 per cent of Board of Management (BOM) teachers across schools in Kenya are earning an average monthly salary of less than Sh10,000.

The details were revealed in a report dubbed Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (FLANA) report 2023 by USAWA Agenda.

According to the report launched on Thursday, eight in ten BOM teachers earn less than Sh10,000 monthly.

Additionally, two in ten BOM teachers earn between Sh10,000 and Sh20,000 monthly while one in 100 BOM teachers earn between Sh20,000 and Sh30,000 monthly.

The assessment was conducted on all 47 Counties across the country in June and July 2023. The researchers visited 38,634 households spread across the country and centred on 59,201 children.

39,298 children who met the criteria of age 6-15 years were assessed.

Additionally, they visited 1,813 primary schools (a mix of public and private) and assessed their facilities, personnel, leadership, enrolment levels, and performance in the 2022 national examinations (KCPE).

Speaking during the launch of the event at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), USAWA Agenda Executive Director Emmanuel Manyasa said the government needs to factor in enough money to pay BOM teachers.

Pupils from St. scholastica and Bubisa primary school at the launching of foundation literacy and numeracy assessment (FLANA) on February 29,2024 photo by Justine Ondieki.

“A small amount is factored in capitation to pay teachers and this is becoming a challenge to parents since they are the ones who end up back in their pockets to pay the teachers,” Manyasa said.

The report indicates that nationally, 67.1 per cent of funds are from parent’s pockets while the government only provides 6.7 per cent.

“Sh67 in Sh100 paid to BOM teachers comes from parents while Sh6.7 in Sh100 paid to BOM teachers comes from government’s capitation,” reads the report.

Additionally, parents from rural areas end up paying more money as Sh70 in Sh100 shillings comes from their pockets (72.2 per cent) while Sh7 in Sh100 comes from the government's capitation (7.0 per cent).

In urban areas, Sh60 in Sh100 (59.8 per cent) is paid by parents while Sh6.2 in Sh100 (6.2 per cent) is from the government.

Other funds are provided by the well-wishers, National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NGCDF) and external grants at 2.9, 0.7 and 0.7 per cent respectively.

According to the Ministry of Education, BoM teachers in streamed schools are poised to take home at least Sh10,000 per month while those teaching in most national schools are paid between Sh18,000 to Sh 25,000.

Manyasa said that low income causes damage to teachers’ motivation as they are professional tutors just like others who earn more.

“When a majority of the teachers get money from parents, it becomes a double tragedy because there are counties where parents cannot afford to raise money to employ teachers on Board of Management terms. And this kills the motivation of teachers,” he said.

Further, the report indicates that 14 in 100 teachers nationally in public schools are employed by the Board of Management on temporary terms while 77 in 100 teachers in public schools are employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) on Permanent and Pensionable (P&P) terms.

Wajir County has the lowest percentage of teachers employed on P&P terms constituting 63.1 per cent employed by TSC, 12.3 per cent employed as interns and 24.5 per cent employed by BOM.

On the other hand, Kirinyaga County has the highest percentage of P&P teachers constituting 93 per cent of 100 of their teachers.