Post primary education teachers in the Coast region have been advised to begin side hustles so as to avoid over-reliance on their salaries and loans.
The teachers were particularly discouraged from taking loans to build houses as it contributes to years of salary deductions leading to financial constraints.
Prominent Malindi businessman Dr Alfred Agunga said the cost of living is currently high and warned the teachers that relying on the shrinking payslips would lead to poverty after retirement.
Addressing the teachers in Malindi town during a financial literacy meeting organized by Malindi MP Amina Mnyazi and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Kilifi, Mombasa and Tana River branches, Agunga said teachers were among government employees facing high taxation.
He also encouraged them to embrace a saving culture and venture into import business or treasury bonds instead of borrowing money to build a house.
“Why should you take a loan of Ksh.2 million to build a house so as to move away from a Ksh. 15,000 rental houses, you’d rather save the money in a Sacco somewhere and earn interest from it,” he said.
Most teachers, he said, were living miserable lives because of lack of saving and misplaced priorities in their lifestyles like getting the latest mobile phones, bad drinking habits and fashion.
“I encourage you to venture into agriculture since it is the most sustainable and promising venture at the moment that will enable you to earn extra money to complement your salaries,” he said.
Currently he said Agriculture is where everyone was looking at and assured them of returns if they venture into it.
“Teachers have been suffering mostly for making bad financial decisions that make them subject to poverty after retirement,” he said.
At the same time, Omollo Koppolo the Secretary General of KUPPET in Kilifi County and his Tana River Counterpart Omondi Oluoch said they organized the meeting in collaboration with MP Amina Mnyazi after realizing that most teachers, especially of the younger generations were suffering financially even after getting loan facilities.
“Every time a young teacher tries to rise, he is hit on the head and falls. That is why we organized this financial literacy meeting to help them listen to advice from people who have made it on how to invest their finances,” said Oluoch.
On her part, the Malindi MP Amina Mnyazi said as leaders they will not keep quiet even if they are in a broad based government if things were not going right.
“We are in the broad based government but we will speak out when the government burdens our people with taxes with meagre salaries and when teachers cry out about more deductions in their payslips we will call the government out,” she said.
Meanwhile, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino who addressed the same teachers slammed President William Ruto for contributing to the ailing education system in the country especially with the new proposal to make Mathematics an optional subject.
“CBC now is providing an opportunity for our children to grow physically and not mentally. It is the only institution where a student has dropped out of school and they are still school going. CBC has failed and it should be done away with. It is a very good curriculum but not in Kenya,” said Babu Owino.
