A battle has exploded between the Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers following the latest move by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to appoint a Deputy Principal in acting capacity to represent the junior school section.
TSC has this week ordered appointment of one junior school teacher from each junior school to act as Deputy Principal incharge of junior school.
This means primary schools hosting junior schools will have two deputies, one incharge of primary and another for the junior section.
Primary school headteachers who are also Principals of junior schools in acting capacity are required to make the appointment and forward the name to TSC.
However power struggles have emerged between the junior teachers especially after TSC failed to issue clear guidelines for this appointment.
Some junior school teachers want the appointment be done on a first come first served basis.
This means those who reported to the school first should be prioritized in the appointment.
Some teachers want merit with factors like age, and work experience to be considered.
Others are afraid that the school HOIs will favor their cronies in this appointment which is a gateway to early promotion.
A number of junior school teachers are also not happy with P1 teachers who were deployed to junior schools being appointed as Deputy Principals.
TSC first employed 21,550 junior school teachers in February 2023. Then in September 2023 it recruited another 18,000 bringing the total to 39,550.
The teachers who were first employed on internship terms were confirmed on permanent and pensionable basis in January 2025.
TSC also deployed around 9,000 P1 teachers to junior schools by year 2023 to support the Competency Based Education (CBE).
The County and Sub County Directors have been tasked to ensure each primary school hosting junior school has a Deputy for junior school in acting capacity and the name forwarded to the Commission headquarters.
This comes just days after the JSS teachers pushed for autonomy of the institutions which are currently being hosted inside primary schools.
However a junior school teacher must be on a permanent and pensionable (pnp) basis to qualify to act as Deputy Principal also known as Deputy Head of Institution (DHOI).
Currently the primary school headteachers are acting Principals in junior schools. TSC gave them one year contract to act that runs from 1st January to 31st December 2025.
Two weeks ago both the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) and junior school teachers protested wanting the new learning level granted full autonomy, separate from primary and senior schools.
The Kenya Association of Junior School Teachers (KAJST), Kuppet and the more than 50,000 tutors are demanding administrative independence and recognition of junior school as its own tier in the education system.
The association argues that the current arrangement, which places the institutions under the primary school administrative structure, undermines the professional growth and career development of junior school teachers.
“A good example is promotions. How can a headteacher, deputy head teacher or senior teacher-who does not even qualify to teach in junior school-supervise junior school teachers?” asked association chairperson James Odhiambo.
He noted that most primary school administrators, including headteachers, lack the qualifications to teach or fully understand the needs of junior school learners and teachers.
Kuppet Deputy Secretary-General Moses Nthurima questioned the legitimacy of the “comprehensive school” model.
“Kenyan education law only recognises pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. So, where is the ministry getting the term ‘comprehensive school’? Under the Competency-Based Curriculum, junior school is meant to be part of high school-or at the very least, operate distinctly from primary level,” he said.
He further argued that junior schools should have independent management structures and be staffed exclusively by teachers trained for secondary education.
“When graduate teachers are subjected to supervision by P1 (primary-level) teachers, it contradicts their legitimate professional expectations. These teachers trained with the understanding that they would work alongside their peers in secondary schools,” he said.
In response, Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Collins Oyuu urged junior school teachers to respect the recommendations of the education task force.
“Do you know that 90 per cent of our head teachers are graduates? Many were graduates long before some of these teachers even entered the profession. In leadership, qualifications alone don’t count, experience does. Do they even have leadership experience?” he asked.
Mr Oyuu dismissed the push for junior school autonomy as a settled matter, citing recommendations by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.
He said the task force clearly defined two sections within Basic Education: Comprehensive school (Grades 1-9) and Senior school (Grades 10-12).
“Let’s stop making wild proposals. They are teachers and professionals; they should avoid activism,” he said.
The association vowed to continue pushing for autonomy, saying it will keep engaging policymakers, education stakeholders and the public until junior school is recognised as a distinct level of education.