Teachers payslips to be slimmed further as PSSS phase two is to be effected January
The teachers’ payslips are yet again to be reduced in size following the government pension scheme which requires them to contribute for their pension from their salary.
This year January the teachers saw their salary being deducted by 2.5% as a contribution towards their pension plan. This percentage is equivalent to 990 shillings for a secondary teacher I.
The 2.5% was just for phase one of the pension plan initiated by the government. Come next year January an additional 2.5% is to be deducted towards the contribution for the plan. This will bring the total deductions towards the pension scheme to 5.0%.
The contributions do not end there. According to the Public Service Superannuation Scheme initiated by the government, every teacher must contribute 7.5% of their salary for the pension plan. This implies that after January next year another deduction will be done in 2023 January.
Though it may seem to be a smaller percentage it will still have an impact on the size of the teacher’s payslip. This however does not only affects the teachers but also affects the public servants.
After the implementation of all the three phases has been completed ( the 7.5% deduction has been done in 2023 January), the government shall also remit 15% to the kitty ( for the pension plan) to honour their end of the deal.
The government had agreed to pay fifteen per cent as a contribution to the Public Service Superannuation Scheme for the public servants and teachers.
In my personal opinion, deductions are being done every other time on a teachers salary and it is easy to be implemented but when it comes to increment and teacher promotions it is not easy.
It is high time for the Teacher Service Commission to be considerate to the teachers especially at the moment because the effects of the pandemic are still hitting hard on all Kenyans.
Equally the public servants are also facing tough economic times due to the pandemic.
