(fwd) IMF Threatens Kenya Teachers (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

/** labr.global: 199.0 **/
** Topic: IMF Threatens Kenya Teachers **
** Written  4:35 PM  Oct 30, 1998 by labornews in cdp:labr.global **
PRESS RELEASE
     11/1998   29.10.1998

Education International concerned by possible intervention of the IMF in the
teacher's strike in Kenya

     Brussels, 29 October 1998: Education International addressed a
     letter today to International Monetary Fund Managing Director
     Michel Camdessus, after having discovered evidence that the IMF
     had informed the government of Kenya that it would not approve a
     new loan facility to enable the government to accede to the
     teachers demands for the implementation of the second phase of a
     salary agreement signed in July 1998 between the government of
     Kenya and the Kenya National Union of Teachers.

     "If the information, also published in the Financial Times dated
     13 Oct., is correct, it is a cause for great concern since it
     removes from governments the right to negotiate and implement
     agreements for public servants or, in this case, with the
     education sector at national level", stresses EI General Secretary
     Fred van Leeuwen in his letter to Michel Camdessus. "Education
     International urges you to take steps immediately to ensure that
     the teachers of Kenya are able to negotiate a settlement to this
     dispute with those who are taking the decisions about the economic
     and social policy of Kenya".

     For many years, governments receiving loans have indicated that
     both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund imposed
     conditions on them that limited their ability to deal with social
     development as they wished. This has repeatedly been denied by the
     Bretton Woods institutions.

     Today, the inability of the Government of Kenya to implement
     agreements it has signed has serious repercussions for social
     stability in the country. It is also a sign of a loss of
     sovereignty if the charges referred to are correct.

     Teachers in Kenya currently receive an average basic salary of
     US$150 per month. The largest teachers' union, KNUT, a member of
     EI, has argued consistently that, for most teachers this is not
     enough to live on. Last July they successfully negotiated an
     agreement with the Kenyan government, which would result in a 200%
     increase over a five-year period. The recent strikes, which were
     supported by 70% of the population, were in response to the Kenyan
     government saying they could no longer fulfil that agreement and
     refusing to carry through the phase II increase. But news of the
     IMF and international donors' stance, suggests pressure was put on
     the government giving them little room for manoeuvre.

     The need for teachers to find work in addition to teaching if they
     are to provide a survival level of income for their families is
     commonplace in many countries. Indeed for extended periods of time
     salary delays make it necessary for them to support their families
     from other sources and even impair their ability to send their
     children to school.

     "The situation in Kenya will continue to deteriorate and there is
     grave concern for social stability. The unfair treatment of
     teachers who signed an agreement in good faith will further weaken
     an already underfunded system of education. The education system
     will increasingly depend on unqualified personnel since those who
     are qualified will seek employment elsewhere. This strategy has
     already produced devastation in education in many countries in
     Africa. We regret that the same short-sighted policies appear to
     continue at the instigation of the International Monetary Fund",
     underlined EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen in his message to
     the IMF Managing Director.

     Education International represents 23 million teachers and
     education staff through its 284  member organisations worldwide.

     Contact person:

          Dominique Marlet,
          EI Communication Coordinator, tel (32) 0477 50 6416
          e-mail: dominique.marlet@ei-ie.org

** End of text from cdp:labr.global **

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