Justina Wamae confronts Ruto over the fate of JSS intern teachers
By Faith Lagat, December 2, 2025Former Roots Party deputy presidential candidate Justina Wamae has openly challenged President William Ruto over the government’s apparent plan to extend the internship period for Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers from one year to two, contrary to earlier commitments.
In a pointed X post on December 2, 2025, Wamae wrote: “Rais you promised the 20,000 JSS teachers PNP terms after 1 year of internship. Why do you want them to repeat the internship for another 12 months?”
Teachers’ expectations
Wamae’s confrontation comes just five days after President Ruto met Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) examiners on November 27, 2025, at State House Girls High School in Nairobi.
During the closed-door session with the largely JSS-based markers, the president acknowledged several grievances raised by the teachers, including the lack of institutional autonomy and unclear career progression paths.
According to reports from the meeting, the examiners requested full separation of junior secondary sections from primary schools, which currently host them and place JSS teachers under primary headteachers acting as principals.
President Ruto, while responding, he noted that “I have heard you, and I think you have a point. I will have a talk with the Teachers Service Commission, which is an independent institution, on what they are going to do,” a statement that was met with applause.
Proposed internship extension
The president also highlighted that over eighty per cent of teachers hired by his administration are serving in junior secondary schools.
Yet, less than a week later, emerging indications that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) intends to advertise a fresh one-year internship for the same cohort, effectively resetting the clock, have sparked outrage.
Teachers’ unions have threatened industrial action if the promised confirmations do not materialise by December 2025 or January 2026. The proposed extension is seen by many as a breach of the commitment made during the initial recruitment drive.
The timing of Wamae’s public call-out adds pressure on State House at a moment when Parliament and the Senate are already considering legislation to grant JSS full institutional autonomy, a move fiercely opposed by both the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Primary Schools Head Teachers Association (KEPSHA), but supported by the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) on certain conditions.