Teachers’ union officials from Kisumu County now want the government to immediately absorb tutors who have been working on a temporary basis.
Led by the Executive Secretary of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Kisumu chapter, Mr. George Osura, the union said the over 40,000 teachers who were hired on internship by the government should now be absorbed.
Speaking in Kisumu, Osura said the Teachers Service Commission has no other option apart from absorbing tutors who were hired as interns.
Osura said the courts have declared the internship programme illegal, while the TSC has applied for an injunction.
“That in effect means the TSC has accepted liability, hence the need to employ the tutors,” he said.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has warned that over 43,000 intern teachers could lose their jobs following a Court of Appeal ruling that declared the internship programme illegal.
TSC on Tuesday told the National Assembly’s Education Committee that it now faces two choices: terminate contracts or seek additional funding to employ the interns permanently and on pensionable terms.
Officials cautioned that either option could disrupt learning and put pressure on the national budget.
The February 27 ruling found that hiring trained and registered teachers as interns at lower pay than permanently employed teachers amounts to discrimination.
The Court ordered TSC to end the practice, a decision aimed at securing better employment terms for teachers.
Earlier, while appearing before Parliament, TSC Legal Services Director Cavin Anyuor explained the impact of the judgment.
“It is true that on February 27, the Court of Appeal declared the internship programme illegal and unconstitutional,” he told MPs when responding to Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo’s question on whether the Commission was allowed a transition period to comply.
Anyuor said the ruling leaves the Commission with limited options, and ongoing consultations will determine the way forward.
“We have two options: to terminate the contracts or confirm into permanent and pensionable, which means we must look for additional budgetary allocations,” he said, while Melly, the Committee chair, confirmed discussions with TSC acting CEO Evaleen Mitei on the matter.
In 2025, the government allocated Sh4.8 billion to recruit 20,000 intern teachers, showing the scale of resources that would be required to absorb all 43,000.
TSC warned that terminating contracts could worsen teacher shortages, especially in rural and underserved areas where interns make up a large portion of the workforce.
Melly urged the Commission to prioritise keeping the interns in classrooms.
“The best thing you can do is to request the National Treasury for additional funding to absorb the interns,” he said, backing proposals from MPs to safeguard teaching positions.
TSC also confirmed that it has halted future recruitment under the internship programme unless the court ruling is overturned.
“There will be no future engagement of interns in Kenya unless the judgment is overturned,” Anyuor added.
The teacher internship programme had been introduced to give graduates classroom experience and a path to permanent employment. For many young teachers, it offered a rare chance to enter a profession with limited openings.
The Court of Appeal upheld a decision by the Employment and Labour Relations Court declaring the policy unconstitutional.
“Only to that extent does the appeal succeed. We uphold the declaration by the ELRC that Circular TSC/DS/RECRUIT/ADVER/18A/VOL II dated January 4, 2023, and the subsequent internship contracts contravened the provisions of the Constitution,” the ruling reads.
Osura further demanded that junior secondary teachers should be accorded full autonomy.
He said many of them feel demoralised while working in hostile environments.
Osura said there are qualified senior teachers who can be hired to assist them during that transition.
He, at the same time, called for the streamlining of SHA operations, noting that many teachers were still being turned away by some health facilities.
Osura said the capping of payments should not apply since teachers’ pay is processed through SHA.
The official said some health facilities charge as much as Sh4,000 as a consultation fee, which he noted is prohibitive.
The official also slammed the Kenya National Examinations Council for delaying payments to teachers it enlisted as examiners last year.
Osura said exams are due this year, yet the payments have not yet been effected.
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Osura said the capping of payments should not apply since teachers’ pay is processed through SHA.
The official said some health facilities charge as much as Sh4,000 as a consultation fee, which he noted is prohibitive.
By Fredrick Odiero
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