Following the court ruling released April 2024,more than 50,000 teachers hired by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) as intern (s) may end up getting their full salary for the period served under contract.
According to the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC), TSC was found to have violated their right to fair labour practice through illegal implementation internship posts to teachers who are already qualified and possess teaching certificate (TSC numbers).
Justice Byrum Ongaya while reading the ruling on this Matter said that TSC commission is not supposed to hire or engage student-teachers or interns.This is because the commission’s mandate is limited to employment of only those qualified and registered as trained teachers.
Justice Ongaya added that the first respondent (TSC) should employ intern teachers upon terms which are not discriminatory inorder to meet the optimal staffing needs in public schools and more so junior secondary.
The Court ruling that has come just two weeks to school reopening for second term puts the fate of Junior Secondary at stake.
This is simply because teachers who the court has ruled to have been unfairly treated by TSC are the same teachers who have been the backbone of the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) at the Junior Secondary School.
The commission came up with internship program to sort out teacher shortage in schools more especially for Junior Secondary Schools..
To the intern teachers, it is a relief since the court ruling comes at a time when they are struggling to have a suspension of government program of the extension of the intern programme for the second year.
A group of JSS intern teachers hold protests in Nandi demanding for permanent and pensionable TSC job ;Image/Courtesy
During nthe introduction of the intern program,it was organized to run for one year before the interns are absorbed on a permanent and pensionable basis however this changed.
Back in December 2023, President William Ruto, the head of state announced that the intern teachers will be required to serve an extension of another year to make it 2 years before they can be considered for permanent and pensionable terms of recruitment.
Since their posting in Junior secondary, intern teachers trained to teach two subjects have been forced to teach everything including sciences , creative art, performing arts, Pre-Technical Studies among other subjects that they have no knowledge about them due to lack of specialization.
Interns have further been complaining of the deductions that the government subjects their monthly sh 20,000 stipend which gets reduced to sh.17,000 per month.
