The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has welcomed a move to convert the employment of 26,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) intern teachers from contract to permanent and pensionable terms.
Nyeri Kuppet Chair Francis Wanjohi has termed the move as not only laudable but timely to help address the cries of the 46,000 JSS tutors who had been in the streets protesting since the beginning of this term.
The interns took over the running of JSS after the final batch of class eight candidates sat for their national examinations in November last year, bringing down curtains for the 8-4-4 education system that had been around since 1985.
They, however, boycotted classes early this term and vowed to remain put until the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) converted their contracts of employment into permanent and pensionable terms.
“As a union, we do welcome the new development since it will see our Junior Secondary School teachers employed on permanent terms. The first batch of 26,000 teachers have already completed a one-year contract as interns, and therefore they do deserve to be upgraded into permanent employees,” he told KNA.
Wanjohi has nevertheless urged Parliament to set aside additional funds to cater for the employment of the remaining teachers as soon as possible to avert a similar crisis in the coming days.
The official has further called for an end to the practice of employing teachers on contract terms, saying it is an affront to the teaching profession and hitherto unknown in the country.
“We would have celebrated much more if all 46,000 intern teachers had been employed on permanent terms. Let the Government stick to hiring teachers on a permanent basis, as has been the practice all along,” he pointed out.
Initially, the JSS teachers were to be confirmed in January 2025, according to an earlier communication from the TSC.
But yesterday, and in a surprise change of tune, the chair of the Education Committee, Julius Melly, told the Budget and Appropriations Committee that Sh8.3 billion had been allocated for the employment of 26,000 intern teachers on permanent terms.
“The Teachers Service Commission should streamline the recruitment process to ensure that resources allocated to this function are fully utilised at the beginning of the next financial year,” he told the budget committee.
“The commission should convert the 26,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms beginning July 2024 and January 2025, as earlier indicated, “he added.
Prior to the announcement, several intern teachers had been issued show cause letters for being absent from work without any valid reason whatsoever.
On April 17, this year, Justice Bryrum Ongaya of the Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled that TSC violated the intern teachers’ right to fair labour practice as they are qualified and possess teaching licenses.
“The respondents have not exhibited statutory regulatory or policy arrangements that would entitle the first respondent (TSC) to employ interns,” Ongaya said in the ruling.
“Ideally, the first respondent should employ registered teachers on terms that are not discriminatory and to meet the optimal staffing needs in public schools,” the ruling said.
The ruling was issued after the Forum for Good Governance and Human Rights took TSC to court, challenging the teachers’ employer over the Teacher Internship Programme.
The internship programme was launched in 2019 in an arrangement where those employed to teach JSS learners were to be paid Sh20, 000 while their primary counterparts were to receive Sh15, 000 exclusive of statutory deductions.
On May 13, this year, scores of JSS teachers in Nyeri County boycotted work and took to the streets, vowing to keep their classrooms closed until TSC employed them on a permanent and pensionable basis.
They also demanded to be compensated for the 10 months they claimed they were underpaid.
“We have asked our members to stay away from schools until TSC grants us an audience and issues us letters indicating that they have hired us on permanent and pensionable terms like the courts ordered,” said Purity Wangeci, the Chairperson, Kenya Junior Secondary Teachers Association (KEJUSTA), Nyeri.
By Samuel Maina
