Junior Secondary School Teachers End Strike After Deal with Employers and Union.
After a prolonged three-week strike, junior secondary school (JSS) teachers in Kenya are set to resume work on Monday. This development follows a successful return-to-work agreement signed between the JSS teachers and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) in Nairobi.
KUPPET Secretary General, Akelo Misori, announced that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will withdraw the show-cause letters previously issued to teachers for absenteeism. The Teachers Service Commission issued these letters despite the National Assembly Committee of Education’s intervention, which lobbied for additional funds to resolve the impasse.
Misori confirmed that the agreement includes the withdrawal of all punitive measures against the 46,000 JSS teachers who had been protesting the government’s failure to employ them on permanent terms. The union and the commission have agreed to revert all show-cause letters and notices of dismissal, ensuring normalcy in JSS institutions by June 3.
Permanent Employment by July
A critical outcome of the three-hour meeting was the commitment to hire all JSS teachers on permanent and pensionable terms by July 1, instead of the previously planned January next year. Initially, the government had allocated Sh8.3 billion to employ 26,000 intern teachers by January 2025 and another Sh4.5 billion for hiring 20,000 intern teachers. However, KUPPET has now urged the TSC to divert these funds to convert the current 46,000 JSS teachers to permanent status.
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Misori emphasized addressing the challenges in the education sector effectively through consultations. He reiterated the union’s position that JSS should join the secondary section, highlighting the resource disparities between senior and primary schools. In addition, Misori praised the union’s persistent advocacy for hiring teachers on permanent and pensionable terms, stating that JSS forms the backbone of implementing the Competency-Based Curriculum.
A recent judgment from the Employment and Labour Relations Court bolstered the teachers’ demands by ruling against hiring teachers on contract and mandating permanent and pensionable employment instead. Misori affirmed that KUPPET is willing to collaborate with the National Treasury and other government bodies to resolve the issue within the legal framework.
Murunga Muliro, Assistant Organising Secretary of the Junior Secondary Teachers Association, urged teachers to return to their classes on Monday. He announced that the union and the teachers had reached a comprehensive agreement, marking the end of the three-week strike.
Junior Secondary School Teachers End Strike After Deal with Employers and Union.
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