President William Ruto has assured Junior Secondary School (JSS) intern teachers of employment on permanent terms once they serve for two years.
Ruto said it is now a government practice for the intern teachers to work for two years before they are employed on Permanent and Pensionable (pnp) terms.
Speaking on Sunday during a media roundtable at State House, the President said that the JSS intern teachers should relax and go through the process.
“The JSS intern teachers will be at work in January. We had promised that before being employed on permanent and pensionable terms in all the sectors, they must do an internship for two years,” he said.
The President said that the JSS intern teachers will be prioritized for employment after two years.
He said the government is also conducting the internship process in other sectors.
“We have just gotten a cohort of interns at the Public Service Commission because internship is part of the learning and job process,” he said.
The President said that come January, the JSS intern teachers will proceed with their internships and get employment thereafter.
The JSS intern teachers have lamented that they have worked for a year without proper employment terms despite the huge workload they experience in such institutions.
Teacher Service Commission hired the JSS intern teachers on a one-year contract basis last year. The teachers are currently renewing their contract for another year.
They have been teaching in JSS institutions, which are currently domiciled in primary schools across the country.
JSS intern teachers from various counties have been threatening to boycott work if they are not confirmed by January.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers opposed the extension of contracts for intern teachers, saying they should now be put on permanent and pensionable terms.
“We sat with TSC and signed a Memorandum of Understanding that says the teachers have been accepted as interns,” Knut Secretary General Collins Oyuu stated.
“Our proposal was for one year but now saying the contracts might be renewed… That will not happen.”
TSC has on its payroll a total of 46,000 teachers working on internship terms. The Commission is currently renewing contract for the willing intern teachers.
The Commission said it cannot convert the intern teachers to pnp because it lacks fund for doing so.
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