Comparative Analysis of Equity in Teachers’ Grade Promotions

Insights from the Implementation Approaches in Collective Bargaining Agreement of Trade Unions in Kenya

Abstract

Equity in teachers’ grade promotions was targeted through an inevitable paradigm shift in policy from the “scheme of service” approach to a “Career Progression Guideline” approach for trade unions in Kenya. However, the use of both approaches at post-primary level, in the implementation of the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement of unions, espoused differences based on years of service of the teachers. The objective of this comparative study was to determine whether the differences were significant. It was guided by the Socialist economics of education theory and a conceptual framework modified from Walton and McKersie’s behavioural theory for labor negotiations. A comparative research design with a sample of 1,452 respondents drawn from a study population of 5,506 gave a response rate of 100 % of questionnaires. Systematic random sampling selected teachers in each union based on the chronological order of their TSC numbers; while purposive sampling selected school principals was utilized to ensure equal representation from all categories as TSC directors and union secretaries were selected through saturated sampling procedure. The study enhanced content validity while internal consistency reliability of instruments established a Cronbach alpha co-efficient of 0.877. In data analysis, pairwise correlation established plausible interactions between years of service, union membership and promotions while logistic regression analysis revealed that KUPPET union was the one reducing the odds of promotion by up to 23.46% by controlling for teacher-level and school-level characteristics. Gini permutation test results (p≥0.05) established lack of statistically significant difference in equity between the two unions; hence, grade promotion was found to be marginally equitable in KUPPET as compared to KNUT union with gini coefficients of 0.0567 and 0.0698 respectively for the period 2017-2021. Consequently, the research article recommends the harmonization of the two approaches into one and the demarcation policy of membership of teachers in post-primary to one union only.