JSS Teachers Strike Over Confirmation, Internship Pay By Gov’t
Kilifi County intern teachers at Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) have threatened to resign if the government does not recognize them as permanent, pensionable employees and pay them for their time spent as interns.
Speaking to the media on Monday during a nonviolent protest in Kilifi, the intern teachers charged that their employer, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), had mistreated them and violated their rights.
“What we are requesting is confirmation from the government that we completed our internships and payment for that period. The court’s decision that an internship is unlawful is something that we want TSC to honour, stated JSS intern instructor Azani Ngumbao.
A recent ruling by the court declared TSC’s internship program unlawful because it infringes teachers’ rights to fair labour practices by offering internship employment to qualified teachers who hold teaching licenses.
He continued by saying that their monthly gross compensation of Ksh. 20,000 is insufficient to meet their demands and it is additionally subject to tax deductions that other permanent employees have to pay.
When classes resume for the second term of 2024, more than 1,200 JSS teachers in the county, according to Ngumbao, will not report to their duty stations.
It has been stated by Andrew Lelei, another JSS intern, that if the tutors’ demands are not met, the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) will be at risk.
According to him, the program cannot function properly without intern teachers.
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“The interns and I have endured enough suffering. Even though we are helping the CBC program advance, they do not pay us. “This CBC program will be compromised if they do not compensate and verify us,” Lelei stated.
He asserted that certain members of parliament are leaving older graduates unemployed for permanent work while giving job letters to recent grads.
JSS Teachers Strike Over Confirmation, Internship Pay By Gov’t