The government has moved to quell growing tensions among Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers after issuing a renewed commitment to place all intern teachers on permanent and pensionable terms by 2026.
In a renewed bid to avert a looming strike on Monday Dec 8, Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok assured teachers that the President had personally intervened to fast-track the process.
According to Bitok, the government was working on a clear budgetary plan to confirm all JSS interns by the 2026 - 2027 financial year.
"The President has heard your cries. I want to assure you that he has told us to organize ourselves and in the next financial year, we will have a budget and the JSS teachers will be confirmed," Bitok stated.
The PS's intervention came amid threats by teacher unions that classes would not resume in January unless the government issued firm timelines and a written commitment on the fate of intern teachers.
Earlier, Baringo County KUPPET Secretary Zacharia Nayomboi warned that the union would mobilise teachers for industrial action if the issue remained unsolved. One of the biggest points of concern from teachers is that interns were on a Ksh17,000 paycheck - a figure which has been deemed unsustainable under current conditions.
The teachers also cited prolonged frustration and uncertainty since the rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Baringo North Member of Parliament Joseph Makilap has since defended delays by the government, insisting there was a need for a supplementary budget to accommodate JSS interns.
"Allow us to look for money in supplementary so that when they are finally promoted. JSS teachers to be employed on permanent and pensionable terms is not a walk in the park," he said.
Ruto, on Thursday, November 13, announced that JSS teachers, who typically work as interns, would receive permanent contracts after two years of service as part of the government's efforts to enhance the state of education in Kenya.
However, the teachers argue that the two-year timeline contradicts the contracts which they signed, which allegedly stipulated confirmation after 12 months of service.
"The contract that we signed last year, November, indicated internship would be a one off non renewable program for 12 months from January 6 to December 1," one intern said.
At the time, the TSC was accused of shifting goal posts and violating its own promotion guidelines, insisting that at least 20,000 teachers should have already been confirmed.
