The Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) has called on the Ministry of Education to increase capitation funds for the special needs students.
Speaking after holding the union’s national elections at a Narok hotel, the re-elected Secretary General (SG) James Torome expressed that the union will focus on service delivery for special needs teachers as well as the special needs students.
Torome urged the Ministry of Education to ensure the special needs learners are provided with proper infrastructure to ease access to classrooms and other amenities within the school.
The SG who was re-elected unopposed called on the union members to hold their horses on matters concerning the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) insisting that the unions will make a major announcement on 1st July 2021.
He noted that the union has a membership of over 9,001 teachers adding, they were targeting to have a membership of 18,000 by the year 2022.
“If the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) signs the CBA then any member who would like to join the union would be fined,” he said.
Moses Kendagor, a special needs teacher said there is a need for the government to look into the plight of blind students who use Braille that are too expensive to afford.
He said they are limited due to the high cost of learning equipment insisting that the decapitation fee should be increased from the current Sh 2,100 per student.
Ms. Charity Machocho, a trustee at KUSNET stated that special needs students face a myriad of challenges pointing out that more resources should be channeled to special needs education.
She urged the government to supply facemasks and sanitizers to the special needs schools for the sake of improving health care.
by Ann Salaton
