Intern Triumph: JSS Trainees Securing Permanent Positions Starting July 1
Junior Secondary School teachers hired in January 2023 can now finally relax, as the National Assembly has stepped in to ensure their employment on permanent and Pensionable (P and P) terms.
The 26,000 teachers who were part of the initial group hired through the JSS internship program will transition to permanent and pensionable terms starting from July 1st.
Despite previous indications from the Teachers Service Commission and President William Ruto that these intern teachers would be confirmed in January 2025, there have been ongoing demonstrations by the interns demanding the P and P terms.
Many of these teachers, whose internship contracts extend until January 2025, have been eagerly awaiting this transition.
Julius Melly, the chair of the education committee, informed the Budget and Appropriations Committee that an allocation of Sh8.3 billion has been made to facilitate their permanent employment.
Melly emphasized the need for the Teachers Service Commission to streamline the recruitment process to ensure efficient utilization of allocated resources in the upcoming financial year.
He urged the commission to adhere to the previously communicated timelines, converting the 26,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms beginning in July 2024 and January 2025.
The lack of permanent employment terms had led to disruptions in teaching activities at Junior Secondary Schools across the country, as intern teachers engaged in strikes to press for their demands.
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Some of these teachers have faced disciplinary action, receiving show cause letters for their absence from work, with the Teachers Service Commission citing a court order that stayed the ruling in favor of the JSS interns until August 1, 2024.
In a significant legal development, Justice Bryrum Ongaya of the Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled on April 17 that the Teachers Service Commission had violated the interns’ right to fair labor practices, noting their qualifications and possession of teaching licenses.
The ruling highlighted the absence of statutory regulatory or policy frameworks that would justify the commission’s employment of interns, emphasizing the need for the hiring of registered teachers on non-discriminatory terms to meet staffing requirements in public schools.
This ruling stemmed from a petition by the Forum for Good Governance and Human Rights challenging the Teacher Internship Programme.
The internship program, which commenced in 2019, initially provided secondary school interns with a monthly stipend of Sh20,000, while their primary school counterparts received Sh15,000.
During their demonstrations, the JSS interns argued that these stipends were insufficient to sustain their livelihoods.
Intern Triumph: JSS Trainees Securing Permanent Positions Starting July 1