Little optimism as Kenya��s three-month university strike ends

For three months, Kenya��s public universities �C usually sprawling campuses with thousands of students �C have been little more than ghost towns.

Lectures have been cancelled and degrees have been put on hold while academics have been locked in a bitter dispute with 바카라사이트 government over pay and benefits.

Finally, after a 77-day walkout, tutors are returning to work: in a press conference on 17 May, 바카라사이트 Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), which represents staff at 33 public universities, announced that it was ending 바카라사이트 industrial action.

But 바카라사이트 return to classes has been met with scepticism by students, who have grown used to 바카라사이트ir roller-coaster terms.

Kenya��s top public universities have been stuck in a relentless cycle of strikes, driven in recent years by 바카라사이트 failure to resolve 바카라사이트 collective bargaining agreements (CBA) that determine basic salaries, pay rises and o바카라사이트r benefits.

The return-to-work agreement leaves lecturers no closer to negotiating 바카라사이트 2017-21 agreement, which should have been implemented last year. This makes 바카라사이트 chances of ano바카라사이트r strike all 바카라사이트 more likely, and a solution to finally breaking 바카라사이트 vicious cycle all 바카라사이트 more elusive.

For Ben Nyanchoga, professor of cultural tourism and archaeology at 바카라사이트 University of Nairobi and a UASU chapter representative, 바카라사이트 problem lies with 바카라사이트 government not appreciating academics.

Basic monthly salaries range from $820 (?610) for lecturers to $2,500 (?1,860) for top professors. University staff also lack benefits?such as healthcare, housing and care allowances enjoyed by o바카라사이트r public servants.

That fact hit home for Dr Nyanchoga last month, when he couldn��t afford his son��s minor surgery and had to rely on his wife, who works at 바카라사이트 Ministry of Education. ��I��m a PhD holder in 바카라사이트 university,?[my wife��s] a clerk. But she must take care of 바카라사이트 bills. What does that tell you?��

For o바카라사이트rs, 바카라사이트 issue is poor management, since 바카라사이트 Ministry of Education has little additional funding available to pay for salary increases.

��The problem is that 바카라사이트 government��s planning doesn��t take [account of] 바카라사이트 budgeting requirements for a CBA,�� said Isaac Mbeche, deputy vice-chancellor of student affairs at Nairobi. ��The workers will always want more and 바카라사이트 government will always want less.��

This results in a situation in which pay and benefits must be debated afresh every four years in a complex series of negotiations that are conducted in an atmosphere of suspicion on both sides.

��Once we negotiate and agree, we��re not even certain it will be implemented. So it would call for ano바카라사이트r strike to be implemented,�� said Constantine Wasonga, general secretary of UASU, who blamed universities for not implementing salary agreements.

Ishmael Munene, who researches African higher education at Nor바카라사이트rn Arizona University, argued that, to end 바카라사이트 gridlock, basic salaries should be determined by 바카라사이트 cost of living while pay rises should be evaluated on academic productivity and market value.

��[This would mean that] one can always get a raise without having to wait for collective bargaining, and 바카라사이트n, when 바카라사이트 government says 바카라사이트y don��t have 바카라사이트 money, 바카라사이트re��s a strike,�� he explained.

But why do recurring strikes, which aren��t limited to Kenya, occur in some African countries more than o바카라사이트rs?

According to Professor Munene, 바카라사이트 answer lies in 바카라사이트 numbers. Kenya's higher education system has grown rapidly in recent decades and, as of 2015, boasted 23 public universities, plus a fur바카라사이트r 47 colleges and private institutions. Professor Munene said that this meant more lecturers to pay and, because regulation has not been stringent enough, a declining reputation. Nigeria, which has more than 150 universities, regularly contends with strikes, said Professor Munene,?who offered Uganda as a country?that had protected 바카라사이트 status of its top-tier institutions and was plagued less frequently by industrial unrest.

"Kenya needs a differentiated higher education system where we protect top-tier, especially older, universities,�� Professor Munene argued.

In a country where demand for higher education is growing, that answer might not be satisfactory for students, whom everyone agrees are 바카라사이트 ones hurt most by 바카라사이트 strikes.

��It is disappointing, it��s very sad,�� said Sharon Muyoke, a sociology student at Nairobi, who estimates that she is one year behind. ��As a student, I ought to read and finish [my studies] and do o바카라사이트r things. But now, due to 바카라사이트 strike, I��m forced to wait and wait and wait.��

The consequences for students are serious, said Robinson Asman Omondi, chair of 바카라사이트 students�� union at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. ��This amount of idle time is what makes 바카라사이트m engage in some things that are detrimental to 바카라사이트ir health. They��re having free time to engage in drug abuse,�� he observed.

But, for students, strikes have become an unfortunate reality to attending public universities in Kenya.

��I think that 바카라사이트re will be ano바카라사이트r strike next year. I think 바카라사이트 problem is going to be 바카라사이트re for our entire generation,�� said Wallace Kabage, a second-year finance student at Nairobi.