A total of 46,000 teachers working under internship terms are struggling to come to terms that their confirmation to permanent and pensionable (PNP) terms will not come in a silver platter.
This is after the Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Ogamba said the intern teachers will have to apply afresh to be considered for permanent employment.
Speaking when he appeared before the National Assembly Education Committee to respond to concerns on the preparedness of the country to transition Grade 8 learners to Grade 9 in January, CS Ogamba said 46,000 PNP teaching slots will be up for grabs.
The CS said the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) would begin the transition of the intern teachers to PNP terms up to December.
“The Commission will subject the said teachers to a competitive process in accordance with the Constitution and all the relevant laws. Candidates will be confirmed in their positions effective January 1, 2025, as per the approved budgetary allocation timelines,” Ogamba told the National Parliament Committee on Education.
However the intern teachers can sigh with relief as the Commission will award them upto thirty marks during recruitment interviews based on period of internship service.
The intern teachers will be issued with internship certificates at the end of their internship contracts.
Primary headteachers will also give a comprehensive report on conduct of the intern teachers which will count during PNP recruitment.
TSC already extended the contracts for 20,000 teacher interns by four months. These were intern teachers whose internship contracts ended on 31st August.
TSC has on its payroll a total of 46,000 teachers serving on internship terms.
These are 21,550 junior school and 4,000 primary school intern teachers recruited in February 2023.
450 secondary school intern teachers recruited in April 2023. 18,000 junior school and 2,000 primary school intern teachers recruited in September 2023.
Previously intern teachers were automatically converted to permanent and pensionable terms after serving for one year internship contract.
However President Ruto has changed the internship policy where all government interns must serve for at least two years before being considered for permanent employment.
The conversion of interns to PNP is also not automatic as they will be subjected to a competitive process.
Teachers unions on the other hand have opposed the plan to subject the teacher interns to another employment process saying it will open avenues for corruption.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary General Akello Misori dismissed the announcement, saying the teachers must be promoted automatically, adding that the CS was not the teacher’s employer and must keep off.
“That statement will create unnecessary tension between teachers and the government. “They (interns) shoul convert all the 46,000 teachers automatically to permanent and pensionable terms,” he said.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary general Collins Oyuu said he was not aware of such developments and noted that all the interns must automatically be converted to permanent and pensionable terms.
“When you are an intern, you are converted to permanent and pensionable terms. But when you are seeking a new job that is when you apply for consideration. As far as I am concerned that statement is not true,” Oyuu said.
Oyuu said that a fresh application shall not apply. “You apply again, then what? You are considered or denied the chance? No, that will not happen.”
The committee expressed frustrations over the delay in confirming the intern teachers.
“TSC has been allocated Sh18 billion, and we expected them to have confirmed all the 46,000 interns. What is going on?” said the chairman, Julius Melly, seeking clarity on when advertisements for the positions would be posted.
The Tinderet MP wondered why it had taken long before the teachers were confirmed. Melly asked TSC to clarify what will happen for the conversions to permanent and pensionable terms.
The revelations is a blow to the intern teachers who had hoped that the exercise would be automatic transition after the government had assured them.
One of the intern teachers said: “This is a blow to us,” reflecting the sentiment of her peers who felt let down by the change in plans.
It will also be a blow to the teachers’ unions that has pushed for the tutors conversion and even staged nationwide strike.
This announcement comes in the wake of significant unrest in the education sector.
Kuppet-led demonstrations involving over 100,000 teachers, demanding the conversion of JSS teachers to permanent positions.
Kuppett had agreed to lobby Parliament for Sh8.3 billion to ensure that all intern teachers are absorbed into permanent roles.
Oyuu said some of the interns were asked to extend their contracts ahead of January conversion.
Ogamba told MPs that the government is committed to enhancing the number of tutors to serve in the Junior Secondary Schools across the country.
“The recruitment of an additional 20,000 teachers will follow the same timelines and process as that of the conversion of interns,” he said.
TSC reported that 60,642 teachers have been trained to handle Grades 7 and 8.
