The world over, the teaching profession is celebrated in October every year. But is the teacher celebrated? There can never be a school without teachers. I chose to celebrate the teacher instead of the profession. I will celebrate an extraordinary teacher because no one ever speaks about this teacher. Yet this teacher silently suffers because of their love of teaching.
My story as a part-time University lecturer
I love teaching. I am told many of my ancestors were teachers. Probably that is where it all started. I have taught at the university level at various universities. I have only done this on a part-time basis.
I love teaching. I am told many of my ancestors were teachers. Probably that is where it all started. I have taught at the university level at various universities. I have only done this on a part-time basis.
Surprisingly, I have never gone out of my way to look for part-time teaching. – people call me and ask if I am available. Maybe someone is asking why I teach part-time, not permanently. I have never looked for full-time teaching – I am too engaged in what I do, and I don’t think I can commit fully to teaching full-time.
After teaching for some time, I need to go away.
Part-time Lecturer's Problems
Part-time University lecturers have many problems, for example, compensation. The pay has two issues:
- The amount of payment.
- When it is paid.
Let me ask two questions:
- Does anyone bother about the part-time lecturer in Kenya? Yet this teacher is entrusted with producing a skilled labour force to drive Kenya’s big four agendas and take Kenya to the class of developed countries.
- Has anyone in this country ever examined the compensation of part-time lecturers at our national and private universities?
Treatment of part-time lecturers in this country is worse than that meted out to enslaved Africans on the Trans-Atlantic slave trade route. The enslaved people were fed and clothed, no matter the quality. But since the East African region was a late entrant in the transatlantic slave trade, only joining in the 1770s, probably the full impact of slavery was not experienced.
This enslavement mentality has to continue being propagated in the region. Unfortunately, it is the part-time University lecturers who are the victims.
In this country, some teachers starve because of little pay and delayed payment. Yet these teachers teach our children.
“Only in the teaching profession can a person do their work and be paid a negative gross amount.”
Evidence of negative gross pay
In this post, I will provide evidence of how a University part-time lecturer is paid a gross negative figure. In late September 2019, I was offered a teaching opportunity to teach 234 students as a part-time lecturer for kshs 1,800 per hour at a national university. Let us work out the figures to establish my take-home.
Actual pay per student per hour
Exam – 1 week
Revision – 1 week
Teaching time – 13 weeks
Semester duration – 15 weeks
Every lesson has 3 hours:
Pay per hour – kshs 1,800
1 lesson – 3 hours
Earning per lesson kshs 1,800 x 3 hrs – kshs 5,400
Tax 30 % PAYE – kshs 1,620
Balance – kshs 3,780 per class of 3 hours
Pay per student per 3 hours – kshs 3,780/234 = kshs 16.15
Pay per student per hour – kshs 16.15/3 = kshs 5.38
To teach a student at this University, a lecturer’s pay for teaching one student per hour is kshs 5.38.
Costs of teaching:
To teach one student for one-hour various costs are incurred by the lecturer over the cause of the semester. To establish the cost per hour, we will make several assumptions:
Payment per hour is kshs 1,800 (adopt University rate).
The commercial rate for hiring a laptop per hour – the lowest rate of kshs 3,000 per 8 hours a day. Cost per 1 day = kshs 3,000/8 = kshs 375 per hour.
The lecturer does not drive but takes public means to and from teaching.
Thirteen teaching sessions of 3 hours each and one session supervising exams = 14 sessions.
Preparing for 1 hour of teaching takes 4 hours.
Preparing for 1 CAT question takes 30 minutes to set.
Preparing for one final exam question takes 45 minutes to set.
Marking 1 CAT question takes 7 minutes.
Marking one final exam question takes 10 minutes.
Actual costs:
- Cost for teachers’ time:
Teaching cost for one 13 sessions and one exam session = 14 x kshs 1,800 x 3 = kshs 75,600.
- Other costs:
Travelling to and from the university (bus fare) – kshs 500 per week – kshs 500 x 14 times (teaching and exams) – kshs 7,000.
Meals – (tea and lunch) – kshs 300 x 14 times (teaching and exams) – kshs 4,200.
Use of personal computer for class preparation – commercial hiring of a laptop kshs 3,000 per 8 hour day (lowest) = kshs 375 per hour. Therefore, preparing 3-hour sessions x 4 x 13 sessions x kshs 375 = kshs 19,500.
Use of a personal computer to deliver the lecturer – kshs 375 per hour x 3 hours session x 13 sessions = kshs 14,625.
Internet costs kshs 500 per month / 4 weeks = kshs 125 per week x 13 (teaching) = kshs 1,625.
Mobile phone airtime to communicate with the University and students – kshs 1,500.
Wear and tear for mobile phone – kshs 1,000.
Stationery – pens, paper, whiteboard marker, whiteboard cleaner – kshs 1,500.
Time to set 4 Continues Assessment Texts (CATs) and marking schemes. Each CAT should be like the main exam – 6 questions x 4 CATs = 24 questions @30 minutes per 1 question = 720 minutes = 12 hours @ 1,800 = 21,600.
Time to mark CATs – 234 scripts x 4 questions x 4 CATs = 3,744 questions @ 7 minutes per question – 26,208 minutes = 436.80 hours x kshs 1,800 = kshs 786,240.
Time to set final exam 6 questions (sometimes one sets two exams, translating to 8). Assume 1 exam – 6 questions x 45 minutes = 270 minutes = 4.5 hours x kshs 1,800 = kshs 8,100.
Time to mark final exam – 234 scripts x 4 questions = 936 questions (some universities do not pay for marking exams) = 936 x 10 minutes= 9,360 minutes = 156 hours x kshs 1,800 = kshs 280,800.
Time to compile CAT marks – 2 hours per CAT x 4 CATs = 8 hours x kshs 1,800 = 14,400.
Time to compile final exams – 2 hours per exam x 1 exam = 2 hours x kshs 1,800 = kshs 3,600.
Time to set a supplementary exam – 6 questions @ 45 minutes = 270 minutes = 4.5 hours x kshs 1,800 = kshs 8,100.
Time to mark a supplementary exam (assume 10 students will sit supplementary exams) – 10 students x 4 questions x 10 minutes to mark – 4,00 minutes = 6.67 hours x kshs 1,800= kshs 12,000.
Total No. 1 – No. 16 – kshs 1,224,790
Total costs (a+b) – kshs 75,600 +kshs 1,224,790 = kshs 1,300,390.
Cost per student – kshs 1,300,390/234 = kshs 5,557.22 per 13 sessions of 3 hours.
Cost per student per 3-hour session – kshs 5,557.22/ 13 sessions = kshs 427,48.
Cost per student per hour – kshs 427,48/3 hrs = kshs 142.49.
Summary
Pay per student per hour (a) = kshs 5.38
Cost per student per hour (b) = kshs 142.49
Balance per student per hour = kshs 137.11
This means that pay for teaching one student per hour for a part-time university lecturer (with a PhD or not) is negative kshs 137.11. per hour – which is a loss.
Total loss to the lecturer for the 234 students for 13 sessions:
Loss per hour kshs 137.11 x 14 sessions x 3 hours per session x 234 students = kshs 1,347,517.08 in terms of monetised time and actual money.
Critical:
PAYE of kshs 21,060 must be deducted and remitted to the KRA.
Universities do not pay part-time lecturers on time, flouting PAYE rules with impunity.
Pay by universities sometimes goes into years, resulting in further loss to the part-time lecturer.
The negative pay and not being paid on time results in part-time lecturers’ non-commitment to teaching, hence poor quality graduates.
Though Section 15 of the Income Tax Act Cap 470 allows the deduction of expenses incurred in generating taxable income, currently, the part-time lecturers do not have evidence of their expenses unless a benchmark is established for costs incurred in delivering the various lectures at the undergraduate levels, graduate levels and postgraduate levels.
The loss
Paying anyone negative compensation amounts to stealing that person’s life because the time they take to prepare, teach, set exams and mark etc., is part of their life that is not compensated. This disrespects the university lecturer’s capacity, resulting in a total loss to various stakeholders.
- The lecturer, as explained above.
- The students – are not taught properly because there is no commitment by the lecturer.
- The parents – parents struggle to pay university fees, yet the teachers are not adequately compensated and hence do not deliver quality teaching services.
- The country – students leave universities “half baked”.
- The world – the workforce is unqualified and uncompetitive globally.
Way forward
Though 5th October was established by UNESCO in 1994 to honour teachers worldwide, no one celebrates part-time lecturers. They only exist when University mandarins need help getting their qualified relatives to teach. Part-time lecturers have nothing to celebrate; the crying is not tears of joy but pain.
“No country can grow with crying teachers because teachers’ happiness oils the economic development engine.”
Students qualified to teach at universities should seriously think when taking up part-time lecturing. Universities get free labour while the government receives taxes at the expense of part-time lecturers’ misery.
It may be time for university administrations and the relevant ministries to set upper-hour scales – the current part-time structure was set up in 2000. Children born then are already at the University, and some are parents.
There is an urgent need for a national debate on this critical issue and to establish a benchmark for costs incurred in delivering the various lectures at the university level and their pay.
Questions:
- Are you a part-time university lecturer?
- How much does it cost you to teach one student per hour?
For any clarifications, get in touch through email on the Contact Page
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