National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee chairperson Ndindi Nyoro has urged the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to provide clarity on when Junior Secondary School (JSS) interns will be offered permanent employment terms.
Speaking in Aldai Constituency in Nandi County, Nyoro stressed that Parliament has already allocated funds to facilitate the confirmation of JSS teachers into permanent and pensionable terms.
Nyoro calls on TSC
He pressed TSC to communicate a definite timeline for the transition of these interns to permanent and pensionable terms.
“We recognise that TSC operates as an independent commission, but Parliament has already allocated money for the confirmation of JSS teachers into permanent positions. I respectfully ask the TSC to officially communicate to the intern teachers when they will be confirmed,” Nyoro stated.
This call for clarity comes after intern teachers staged demonstrations in May 2024, demanding permanent and pensionable employment.
The protests followed a court ruling mandating the government to regularise their employment.
On April 17, Justice Bryrum Ongaya of the Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled that the TSC had violated the rights of intern teachers by not offering them fair employment terms despite their qualifications and teaching licenses.
“The respondents have failed to present any legal or policy framework that justifies employing teachers on internship contracts,” the ruling stated.
Justice Ongaya further noted that the TSC should employ registered teachers under non-discriminatory terms to meet staffing needs in public schools.
Court’s decision
The court’s decision came after a petition by the Forum for Good Governance and Human Rights, which challenged the legality of the Teacher Internship Programme.
Launched in 2019, the programme compensates secondary school interns with a monthly stipend of KSh 20,000, while primary school interns receive KSh 15,000.
During their protests, JSS interns argued that these amounts were insufficient to sustain their livelihoods, intensifying their calls for permanent employment.
