Are the Kenyan teachers Being Cowards?

Teachers in Kenya have called off a nationwide
strike, shortly after the government
announced the indefinite closure of primary
schools.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers took the
decision following talks with Deputy President
William Ruto.
Some 240,000 primary and secondary school
teachers had been striking for more than three
weeks for higher pay.
It was the biggest crisis President Uhuru
Kenyatta's government had faced since it won
elections in March.
The union seemed to have bowed to government
pressure, ending the strike without securing
major concessions, reports the BBC's Caroline
Karobia from the capital, Nairobi.
'Sacked'
Mr Ruto told union leaders that the government
was working on a "very tight budget", and could
not meet their demand for better travel
allowances, Kenya's Standard newspaper reports.
National Union of Teachers chairman Wilson
Sossion said they had called off the strike
because "this is our country and we must work
together and get things moving".
Earlier on Wednesday, Education Secretary Jacob
Kaimenyi denounced the strike as
unconstitutional and said primary schools would
close indefinitely.
The Kenya Primary School Heads Association
(KEPSHA) then called on the government and
trade unions to seek a solution for the sake of
schoolchildren.
"The children who are facing exams this year, lost
some time last year during another strike, they
lost another 10 days during elections and now
they have missed out on four weeks. That is a
problem we cannot wish away," its chairman
Joseph Karuga said.
"These children are the people whose future we
are talking about and if we continue interfering
with it, the cost will be enormous."
On Monday, Mr Kaimenyi said teachers who did
not resume work the next day "would have sacked
themselves" following a court ruling that the
strike was illegal.
Teachers were demanding increased travel,
housing and medical allowances; they also
wanted the government to abide by a 1997
agreement, which calls for a 500% pay increase.
The deal would have cost the government $540m
(£362m) in increased allowances for teachers and
a further $175m to hire new teachers.
The government said it could not afford to meet
the demands.
Last week, the Secretary General of the Kenya
National Association of Parents, Musau Ndunda,
accused the government of "playing politics" and
not being keen to resolve the strike.
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