President William Ruto announced that junior secondary school (JSS) teachers will be offered permanent and pensionable employment every two years amid reports of an impending disruption to next year's academic calendar
Speaking at a press event on Thursday evening, Ruto revealed that JSS teachers, who typically work as interns, will receive permanent contracts after two years of service. This move is part of the government's efforts to enhance the state of education in Kenya.
"We decided that the JSS interns would be hired on permanent and pensionable basis after two years of service; no negotiation,” he said.
“So I want you (the media) to give assurance to every intern that once two years are over, there is no negotiation, no back and forth, straight into permanent and pensionable,” Ruto added.
Ruto's direction came amid an increased clamour for the permanent hiring of 20,000 JSS teachers, whose contracts are almost expiring.
According to the teachers, they should have been hired permanently after completing one year of service, but the Teachers Service Commission had yet to confirm their new status.
Back in 2024, Ruto had announced that all JSS teachers would be put under permanent and pensionable terms by the end of the year, though this did not come to fruition.
The assurance from the Head of State came amid highly escalated concerns and uproar on the plight of JSS teachers under the new Competence-Based Education (CBE) curriculum.
In June 2024, a strike by the JSS teachers prompted the Budget and Appropriation Committee to instruct the TSC to hire all the JSS teachers who had been working under an internship program on permanent and pensionable terms.
The then Budget and Appropriation Committee chairperson, Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu MP), stated that the government had allocated enough funds for the project in the 2024/2025 Financial Year.
Fast forward to this year, the JSS teachers have also demanded full autonomy and separation from both Primary and Senior Secondary Schools.
They also called for the establishment of a distinctive administrative framework for JSS learners, different from the primary schools where the current JSS is domiciled.
The teachers on Saturday, September 20, argued that the government's move to place JSS within primary schools created confusion, particularly on issues touching on co-curricular activities and administrative roles.
