Court cancels TSC internship programmes

The Court of Appeal has declared the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Internship Programme null and void, cancelling its implementation.

In an appeal petition before a three-judge bench, the court said that the TSC has the authority to engage trained, qualified and registered teachers as interns, it can only do so under a policy that complies with constitutional requirements.

“Only to that extent does the appeal succeed. We uphold the declaration by the Employment and Labour Relations Court dated January 4, 2023. The subsequent internship contracts contravened the Constitution,” the judges said.

Junior school teachers through the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), called the ruling historic.

“The Court of Appeal delivered a landmark ruling on our case challenging the internship programme implemented by the TSC,” Junior School KUPPET Secretary Omari Omari said.

The Court held that while TSC has the legal authority to engage teachers as interns, the 2023 internship recruitment was unconstitutional and lacked legal frameworks.

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Omar said the ruling opens the door for the union to return to court to seek compensation for the period the interns teachers served. “We shall pursue compensation two fronts: monetary and career progress. Our teachers must be moved to the next job group since the years they served under internship should be counted as years worked under TSC. As our 9000 colleagues who were employed alongside us move to C3, all 2023 interns must also be moved to C3,” Omari said.

The commission moved to the Court of Appeal after Employment and Labour Relations Court declared the internship policy unconstitutional.

The court delivered its judgment on April 17, 2024. It held that interns qualify as employees for purposes of the employment law, adding that the Employment Act defines a worker to include an apprentice or indentured learner.

It said trained teachers duly registered by the TSC could not lawfully be engaged as interns.

According to the court, teachers hired under the internship plan were subject to unfair treatment as they were denied the terms and conditions of service ordinarily accorded to teachers employed by the commission at entry level.

The court said the TSC had not demonstrated any constitutional or statutory mandate to employ teachers under the designation of interns. It held that the TSC’s mandate is to hire registered teachers and that it is not permissible to engage them as interns.

By Juma Ndigo