Lecturers salaries in Kenya differ on account of experience, level of education, and location.
A lecturer in Kenya typically earns around Ksh179,839 average monthly salary, comprising of housing, transport, and other allowances.
Experience
Experience level is the most important factor in determining a lecturer’s salary because naturally the more years of experience you have, the higher your wage becomes.
A lecturer with less than 2 years of experience earns approximately Ksh97,240 per month.
One with experience level of between 2 – 5 years experience is expected to earn Ksh133,567 per month. This is 37% more than one with less than 2 years experience.
A lecturer with experience level of between 5 – 10 years gets a salary of about Ksh149,914 per month.
Those with between 10 – 15 years experience get a salary equivalent to Ksh182,609 per month, 22% more than a person with 5 – 10 years of experience.
Incase the experience level is between 15 – 20 years, the lecturer is expected to earn monthly salary of Ksh215,304.
Finally, lecturers with more than 20 years of professional experience get a salary of Ksh248,906 per month, 16% more than those with 15 – 20 years of experience.
Education
A much higher education attracts more pay in almost every profession.
Salary by hours worked
The average hourly wage (pay per hour) in Kenya for a lecturer is Ksh1,038.
Lecturer jobs are classified into two categories: salaried jobs and hourly jobs.
Salaried jobs pay a fixed amount of money per month regardless of the hours worked, while hourly jobs pay per the hours worked.
All these, however, differ with the type of the higher education institution (private or public), courses one teaches, location and whether it is a University or College.
Matiang’i
In January 2017, the then Education Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i proposed that University lecturers’ salaries be based on the course taught as a new funding formula for the institutions take effect in the 2018/2019 financial year that started in July same year.
Under the new formula known as differentiated unit cost, public universities would be allocated funds on the basis of their programmes instead of the number of students enrolled.
This was revealed during the first University Chancellors Convention held in Nairobi and presided over by Dr Matiang’i.
Medicine, engineering, architecture, computer science and law lecturers would inturn be paid higher than those in the general humanities and the social sciences.
UASU proposals
In May 2019, Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu)-Kenya demanded pay hike for lecturers.
According to the Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga, a Kenyan lecturer is paid 50 per cent less what is paid to their Tanzanian counterparts.
Uasu proposed that a graduate assistant now earning Ksh83,598 should earn between Ksh195,656 and Ksh306,006.
Lecturers earning between Ksh99,409 and Ksh140,683 should rise to between Ksh406,050 and Ksh635,097 while senior lecturers earning Ksh112,038 to Ksh159,720 should get Ksh546,163 – Ksh857,384 monthly salary.
Uasu also demanded that associate professors whose basic salary is between Ksh145,441 and Ksh203,605 should start earning Ksh740,020 and Ksh1,157,666 respectively while full professors should get between Ksh999,030 and Ksh1,562,625 from Ksh170,681 to Ksh248,898.
On house allowance, Dr Wasonga says a professor getting Sh73,715 should get Sh250,000 and that of associate professor to rise from Sh66,344 to Sh190,000.
Research study
A research study by a group of experts appointed by a committee of all vice chancellors of public universities in Kenya early 2012, revealed that lecturers of public universities in Rwanda and Tanzania are payed higher salaries compared to those working in Kenya and Uganda.
The study which looked at the 2010 salaries, showed the monthly salary and allowances of a full professor in Kenya are an average of $2,200 compared with $4,900 in Rwanda, $3,200 in Tanzania and $1,150 in Uganda.
