Push For Intern Teachers To Be Hired On PnP Terms . A union demands that the 46,000 teachers who are presently interning be given permanent jobs right away.
Akelo Misori, the secretary general of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), is also calling for the hiring of 20,000 additional intern teachers for junior secondary schools (JSS).
Misori, meantime, has criticized the administration for slashing funding for education.
The administration attributed the decision to reduce financing for the education sector to the Finance Bill 2024’s withdrawal.
Kuppet further demands the prompt payment of the past-due medical bills and the complete execution of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the years 2021–2025.
Misori said the State should immediately convert teachers serving under internship to permanent and pensionable terms.
“We demand an immediate conversion of 46,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms, a matter which Kuppet has pursued for more than a year,” said Misori yesterday.
Appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee, chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly, on Wednesday Teachers Service Commission (TSC) boss Nancy Macharia said intern teachers would have to wait longer to join the government, blaming it on budget cuts.
But Misori said he expects teachers to receive their confirmation letters by the end of the month and see their upgraded salaries reflected in their bank accounts next week.
He wants the human resources in JSS to increase in readiness for the transition of 1.2 million learners to Grade 9 next year.
Push For Intern Teachers To Be Hired On PnP Terms
“We want the immediate employment of new 20,000 teachers for JSS. This recruitment would still leave JSS schools understaffed by nearly 73,000 teachers,” said Misori.
Misori criticised what he termed as the government’s casual attitude towards teachers’ welfare and condemned the Salaries and Remuneration Commission accusing it of enabling the government to undermine workers’ rights.
He insists on the complete implementation of the CBA, including the August 2023 addendum.
Dr Macharia said pay increase for teachers set in the CBA is among the programmes affected by the government’s austerity measures following the slashing of the commission’s budget by Sh10.28 billion.
This reduction means TSC will not be able to implement the second phase of the CBA, Macharia said.
The deal, signed by Kuppet, the Kenya National Union of Teachers, and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers, was set to give teachers a basic salary increment of up to 9.5 per cent.
Dr. Macharia has issued a warning, stating that legal action and strikes could result from the agreement being broken.
She informed the committee that the impact of the budget cuts has been communicated to the Treasury.
The TSC chief claims that the money at hand is barely enough to pay salaries. Misori insisted that TSC had to uphold its end of the deal, saying that even if the arrangement only offered meager benefits, it was fully compliant with the law and had been registered with the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
Benefits are non-negotiable and have to be honored, the Kuppet boss insisted.
Push For Intern Teachers To Be Hired On PnP Terms