Education

Junior Secondary School interns secure permanent jobs after bagging Sh8.3bn funding

Junior secondary school intern teachers hold a demonstration over poor pay in Isiolo town on May 13, 2024. (Photo: Waweru Wairimu/EV)

By Lucy Mumbi | Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Starting July 1, 2024, the 26,000 teachers, who were initially slated to transition to permanent and pensionable terms in January 2025, will benefit from the new employment status.

Junior Secondary School teachers hired in January 2023 through the JSS internship programme will now be employed on Permanent and Pensionable (P&P) terms, following an intervention by the National Assembly.

The move marks a significant victory for the 26,000 teachers who have been advocating for permanent terms after the Court ruled that their employer violated their right to fair labour practices.

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The decision was announced by Chair of the Education Committee Julius Melly, who confirmed that Sh8.3 billion has been allocated to support the initiative.

Starting July 1, 2024, these teachers, initially slated to transition to P&P terms in January 2025, will benefit from the new employment status.

“The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should streamline the recruitment process to ensure that resources allocated to this function are fully utilized at the beginning of the next financial year. The commission should convert the 26,000 intern teachers to P&P terms starting July 2024 and January 2025 as earlier indicated,” Melly told the Budget and Appropriations Committee.

The announcement follows a series of demonstrations by the intern teachers, who had stopped teaching since students resumed for the second term, to demand permanent employment terms.

The controversy escalated when Justice Bryrum Ongaya of the Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled on April 18, 2024, that the TSC had violated the interns' right to fair labour practices, noting that they were qualified and held teaching licenses.

“The respondents have failed to show statutory, regulatory, or policy arrangements that allow the first respondent (TSC) to employ interns. Ideally, the TSC should hire registered teachers on fair terms to fulfil optimal staffing needs in public schools,” Justice Ongaya said.

The Teachers Internship Programme, which began in 2019, has faced criticism for the low pay offered to interns, with secondary school teachers earning Sh20,000 and primary teachers Sh15,000 per month.

After statutory deductions, which now include the recently introduced Housing Levy, primary school interns take home around Sh13,000—a figure that has remained constant for the last 15 months.

The developments are a response to the grievances and the legal challenges posed by the Forum for Good Governance and Human Rights.

The change aims to address the staffing crisis in Junior Secondary Schools, ensuring that teaching activities resume smoothly and that qualified teachers receive fair compensation for their work.