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Junior secondary school teachers in Meru County have vowed not to return to class until the government enrols them on permanent terms.

The teachers who staged demonstrations in Tigania Central and Imenti North sub-counties accused the government of abusing their services by failing to confirm them as permanent and pensionable after working for two years as interns.

Speaking to the media, the teachers led by Gikundi Karutui decried the failure of the government to address their grievances and keep its promise to confirm about 26,000 teachers on permanent and pensionable terms.

“We are not going back to class come rain come sunshine unless the government compensate us for the time we have worked while being underpaid and confirms us on permanent terms,” Karutui said.

The aggrieved teachers who matched to their various area Teachers Service Commission (TSC) offices to seek address, demanded the immediate release of funds by the government to pay for the immediate confirmation of interns by the TSC.

“We are not scared of being intimidated but we will continue downing tools and sabotaging learning until the government addresses our plight because we cannot continue offering services while earning peanuts on intern program,” Carolyne Gakii, an affected teacher, said.

They further blamed the TSC for using discrimination methods while employing JSS teachers.

“We want TSC to be clear on the formula they are using to put a 2016 graduate on internship and employ a 2023 graduate on a permanent and pensionable basis. We want to know if this is not corruption,” Karutui said.

At the same time, they urged the commission to respect court orders issued by the Employment and Labour Relations Court.

“TSC had a formula to employ teachers in the past. What happened to this? When they employed us on years of graduation, why is this not happening now,” Miriti Avezi, a teacher, said.

They added that TSC should come clear on the time frame for the contract, adding that the commission should stop ignoring teachers’ welfare.

The protesting teachers who came out in large numbers also called on the Kenya National Union of Teachers and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers to support and push the government to address the issue to pave the way for a smooth learning process upon school reopening.