State Urged to Address Concerns Raised by Intern Teachers Amid Nationwide Strike.
As the strike by 46,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) intern teachers enters its second week, various unions are calling on the government to resolve the situation promptly. This ongoing boycott has gained significant support from key educational unions, urging the government to find a solution to prevent disruption in Grades Seven and Eight.
Collins Oyuu, Secretary-General of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), and Akelo Misori, Secretary-General of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), have both voiced concerns about the strike’s potential to paralyze learning. The unions highlight that while JSS interns receive a monthly salary of Sh20,000, this is insufficient compared to their peers in regular primary schools who earn Sh15,000. In contrast, newly employed JSS teachers by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) earn Sh34,955 monthly, along with additional allowances such as Sh5,000 for commuting, house allowances ranging from Sh8,133 to Sh16,000, and hardship allowances where applicable.
Oyuu emphasized during a weekend gathering in Nyeri County that the employment of teachers as interns was fundamentally flawed. He supported the High Court’s decision that the intern arrangement should be abolished, advocating for these teachers to be employed on permanent and pensionable terms. He called on Members of Parliament and education stakeholders to address the issue for the benefit of both educators and students.
KNUT’s first national vice-chairman, Malel Langat, urged the TSC and the Ministry of Education to address the grievances raised by the intern teachers and trade unions. He highlighted the disparity in earnings, pointing out that intern teachers take home about Sh13,000 after deductions, despite having the same workload as their permanently employed colleagues.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court has mandated that the terms for contract teachers remain unchanged until August 1, 2024. In a ruling on April 17, 2024, Justice Bryam Ongaya noted that the TSC had violated the intern teachers’ rights to fair labor practices. He ruled that the TSC should offer non-discriminatory employment terms and convert contract teachers to permanent and pensionable status.
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The first group of intern teachers had their contracts renewed for another year starting February this year, while the second group is currently serving their one-year term. Misori indicated KUPPET’s willingness to collaborate with the National Treasury, TSC, the National Assembly, and the Ministry of Education to find a resolution.
Other union leaders, including KUPPET assistant treasurer Ronald Tonui, Henry Obwocha, the secretary in charge of secondary schools, and branch secretaries Mary Rotich (Kericho), Charles Ngeno (Narok), and Paul Kimetto (Bomet), have echoed these sentiments. They insist that the government must act to resolve the strike. Tonui specifically called for Parliament to allocate sufficient funds to employ the current intern teachers permanently.
Obwocha accused the TSC of lacking the goodwill to resolve the issue conclusively. He, along with other union officials, has planned to shift the demonstrations from county headquarters to sub-counties in the coming week, indicating a strategic escalation of their protest.
TSC chairman Jamleck Muturi, in a statement last Tuesday, urged the interns to comply with the court order and resume their duties. Meanwhile, President William Ruto announced that his administration had already employed 56,000 teachers, with plans to hire an additional 20,000 this year to improve the teacher-student ratio in schools.
This situation underscores the urgent need for the government to address the concerns of intern teachers, ensuring fair labor practices and stability in the education sector.
State Urged to Address Concerns Raised by Intern Teachers Amid Nationwide Strike.
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