JSS Teachers’ Relief as the Three-Week Strike Comes to an End.
After agreeing to a return-to-work formula on Saturday, June 1, junior secondary school intern teachers decided to call off their three-week strike.
Reached on Madaraka Day, the deal is expected to provide much-needed respite to students who have been left behind since the start of the second term. As early as Monday, June 3, the instructors will be back in the classroom.
The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) spearheaded successful discussions that ended the strike, which forced many students to turn to online learning or hire private tutors. The instructors Service Commission (TSC) has assured the instructors that they will receive permanent and pensionable employment, in response to their request.
Akelo Misori, the secretary general of KUPPET, revealed the development and said that TSC had accepted a number of important conditions. Misori proclaimed, “We have to return to normalcy.” “We are moving back to class.”
Removing all of the show-cause letters that had been sent to teachers for taking part in the strike was one of the concessions that TSC made. This action is considered a major step in the direction of peace and normalcy.
TSC also promised to reinstate teachers who had been removed from the workforce and had their pay withheld as a result of their participation in the strikes. “Some of them were completely erased from the register and were not paid. We’ve decided that their reinstatement is necessary,” Misori said.
Looking ahead, TSC has stated that by January 2025, it intends to hire up to 26,000 intern teachers for junior secondary schools on permanent, pensionable conditions. TSC estimates that this move will cost Ksh8.3 billion, indicating a significant financial commitment.
The National Assembly Committee on Education, chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly, unveiled budget estimates for the 2024–2025 fiscal year earlier this week, highlighting the larger backdrop of these deliberations.
A request for TSC to convert 26,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable positions was one of the Committee’s submissions that were accepted by the Budget and Appropriations Committee, which is chaired by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
Ksh8.3 billion has been set aside in order to provide the striking teachers with permanent work, and an extra Ksh4.7 billion will be utilized to hire 20,000 intern teachers.
Misori did, however, reveal that negotiations were underway between KUPPET and TSC to change the original plan to hire 20,000 interns to hiring those already hired as interns on permanent and pensionable terms.
The agreement also addresses the suggestion that TSC start turning the 26,000 interns into full-time employees in July 2024 as opposed to January 2025 as was first suggested. This suggestion was made to make the teachers’ transition easier and faster.
This decision represents a significant win for junior secondary school educators and a vital first step in stabilizing the education system. Both children and parents will surely be relieved to be returning to the classroom since it signals the end of a time of uncertainty and upheaval.
JSS Teachers’ Relief as the Three-Week Strike Comes to an End.
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