The 742 Junior Secondary School (JSS) intern teachers whose contracts were terminated will soon be rehired, according to an announcement made by their employer. However, before they can be rehired, the interns must first appeal to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to be heard as required by law.
Nancy Macharia, the Chief Executive Officer of TSC, urged the teachers, who had gone on strike weeks ago demanding permanent and pensionable terms following a court ruling, to file an appeal. Few weeks ago thousands of JSS intern teachers, who had been on strike since April 17, temporarily suspended their boycott until July 5 to allow the National Assembly to pass the Finance Bill, 2024.
The 46,000 teachers have asked their employer to recruit them on permanent terms. These graduate teachers were initially hired as interns in 2019. Through their national spokesman, Omari Omari, the interns also urged the commission to release a circular on their confirmation to permanent and pensionable terms as soon as the Finance Bill, 2024 is passed.
“After a meeting with JSS county leaders, we agreed to suspend the demonstrations and pave the way for Parliament to pass the budget on Thursday. By that date, we should have been communicated on the status of the confirmation of the 46,000 teachers,” Mr. Omari said.
Ms. Macharia emphasized that plans are underway to offer jobs on permanent and pensionable terms to those serving in public schools. “We are confident that adequate funds will be availed for the exercise,” the TSC boss said during the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association conference in Mombasa.
Additionally, she noted that TSC would promote more teachers following the government’s allocation of Sh1 billion for this purpose. “We welcome new principals attending this meeting for the first time as substantive heads of institutions. This arose following the promotion of 545 deputy principals to principals during the 2023/24 financial year that ends this month,” the commission boss said.
In the current financial year, TSC has promoted 36,504 teachers, bringing the total number of those elevated in the last five years to 71,212. “We will promote more teachers as we seek to clear the backlog. I urge principals to encourage eligible teachers in your schools to apply for the opportunities once the vacancies are advertised,” Ms. Macharia stated.
She also advised the heads of institutions to ensure there are no delays in adding the new teachers to the payroll by filing their details promptly. This step is crucial to ensure timely salary payments and avoid overpayments. Top TSC officials at the conference emphasized the importance of principals promptly providing the necessary information on teachers posted to their schools from other institutions. This information is essential for processing house, municipal, and hardship allowances on time.
“If you fail to report a teacher’s movement through the exit-entry module and update the data on TMIS, you are denying service to that tutor,” Ms. Macharia stressed.
Moreover, she urged the school heads to prepare for the first cohort of the Competency-Based Curriculum learners, expected to complete JSS next year. Ms. Macharia highlighted the need for principals to have adequate arrangements in place to receive the students.
In preparation for this, TSC is drafting advice in the form of circulars to help teachers adequately prepare to receive the students under the new curriculum. This guidance will be essential in ensuring a smooth transition and successful implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum.
The 742 Junior Secondary School (JSS) intern teachers whose contracts were terminated will be rehired soon, their employer said yesterday. However, the interns must first appeal to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to be heard as required by the law.
TSC Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Macharia, urged the teachers who went on strike weeks ago demanding to be hired on permanent and pensionable terms following a court ruling, to launch an appeal. Last month, thousands of JSS intern teachers who had been on strike since April 17, suspended the boycott until July 5 “to allow the National Assembly pass the Finance Bill, 2024”.
The 46,000 teachers asked their employer to recruit them on permanent terms. The graduate teachers were hired as interns in 2019. Through their national spokesman Omari Omari, the interns also urged the commission to release a circular on their confirmation to permanent and pensionable terms as soon as possible.
“After a meeting with JSS county leaders, we agreed to suspend the demonstrations and pave the way for Parliament to pass the budget on Thursday. By that date, we should have been communicated on the status of the confirmation of the 46,000 teachers,” Mr. Omari said.