A total of 46,000 intern teachers will have to wait a little bit longer before their employment terms are converted to permanent and pensionable after their employer Teachers Service Commission (TSC) affirmed that their term of employment will automatically change after two years.
Appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly last week, the Commission’s Director of Staffing Antonina Lentoijoni stated that the interns will have to wait for another one year before the government confirms them to permanent and pensionable.
“There are two sets of interns. There are those who started on February 1, and those who began working on September 1. The ones we are talking about sending letters of extension of contract for another one year in December are for those in February,” Lentoijoni said.
The Commission appeared before the lawmakers during the hearing of the 2023/2024 supplementary budget by the Committee, which was submitted in the National Assembly by the Chairperson of Budget and Appropriation Committee Ndindi Nyoro on October 26, 2023.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has however dismissed their employer’s position stating that TSC must honour its earlier commitment and absorb the teachers to permanent and pensionable immediately their first year term ends.
The Union Secretary General Akelo Misori said the proposal on teachers currently serving on internship contracts in primary and Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) will demoralise them.
“Whereas the teachers’ employment contract clearly stipulates that they were to serve as interns for only one year, the TSC has not taken the necessary steps to employ them on a permanent basis from January 2024 when their current contract expires,” Misori said.
He argued that teachers have exhibited their patriotism to the nation by going out of their way to offer services to learners despite the hard-working environment.
In the supplementary budget the Ministry of Education will receive a third of the Ksh187.3 billion mini-budget, where education sector will receive Ksh62.1 billion.
In the proposed additional appropriations, the State Department for Higher Education and Research will receive an additional 29.3 billion while TSC is scheduled for an increased allocation of Ksh19.7 billion for teachers’ resource management, signalling the recruitment of tutors to alleviate a biting shortage, which has been exacerbated by the roll-out of the competency-based curriculum.
By Roy Hezron
Get more stories from our website: Education News
To write to us or offer feedback, you can reach us at: editor@educationnews.co.ke
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
