Intern teachers stage protests at TSC, Parliament over jobs and pay
By Emmanuel Rono, April 27, 2026Junior secondary school (JSS) intern teachers marched to the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) headquarters on Monday, April 27, 2026, to demand permanent and pensionable employment.
The protesters, representing a group of 44,000 intern teachers, are calling for an end to indefinite internship contracts and better pay.
The demonstration follows two consecutive rulings from the labor courts and the Court of Appeal, both of which have declared the current teacher internship program illegal.
A section of the teachers at the scene expressed a firm refusal to “implement the illegality” by returning to work under their current contracts, stating they will not return to classrooms for the second term until they receive official appointment letters.
Isaac Masenge, the Nairobi branch executive secretary for KUPPET, joined the teachers in solidarity, accusing the government of a lack of goodwill.
Dead end with govt
He pointed out that a supplementary budget passed three weeks ago should have provided the necessary funds to confirm these teachers, yet no action has been takenHe warned that the government is at a “dead end” and must move quickly to engage stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education and the unions, to resolve the stalemate before schools reopen.
“Today we are gathered here at the TSC headquarters with our intern teachers to stand in solidarity with them. As we are all aware is that the courts have already declared internship and illegal exercise and we expected that the government through the just concluded supplementary budget of around 3 weeks ago could have featured some money to be able to confirm these teachers,” Masenge said.
“So what is lacking is goodwill from the government because once the exercise has been declared illegal. We expect that the government obeys court orders to implement what the court has said.”
We are not going to class!
The intern teachers, some of whom have served for up to 16 months, maintain that their demands are a matter of legal rights.
“Going back to class simply means that we also disobey the court order. So us we have said with the intern teachers, the 44,000 intern teachers of us. We are not going back to class until the government gives us the appointment letters and employs these teachers on permanent and pensionable terms,” JSS teacher Nehemiah Kipkorir said.