TSC is now threatening to fire teaching interns.
Now that classes have resumed for the second term, the instructors’ employer has threatened to fire intern teachers who have not shown up for work.
In order to determine appropriate disciplinary action for individuals who have skipped work, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) said that it will receive attendance data from all schools on Friday.
TSC Legal Affairs director Cavin Anyuor stated during his appearance before the National Assembly Education Committee that the attendance records gathered by school administrators will serve as the basis for the disciplinary action. He stated that on Friday, May 17, the records will be received at the TSC headquarters.
This comes days after intern teachers threatened to refuse to leave their positions despite orders from their employers to return to the classroom. With the encouragement of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), the educators made grandiose plans to step up their protests the next week.
The Kenya Junior Secondary Teachers Association’s secretary-general, Daniel Murithi, stated that the TSC’s request that they return to work will not weaken their commitment.
“TSC has received indications that the majority of you are not returning to school, as evidenced by their response asking you to do so. Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t replace 46,000 instructors, as seen by their appeal for you to return, Murithi stated on Wednesday.
The back and forth between the JSS teachers and TSC comes after an April labor court decision that declared the internship program unlawful due to unequal compensation for equivalent work. But until August 1st, a stay order permitted the TSC to keep hiring interns.
However, TSC has since stated that it will only engage in talks with the interns in the event that their appeal to overturn the illegality finding is unsuccessful is unsuccessful.
A financial deficit, which the commission says it lacks the Sh30 billion required to hire all intern teachers permanently, further complicates the situation.
It suggests a staged approach, with just 26,000 interns to be absorbed in January 2025; the first cohort’s absorption alone will cost Sh8.3 billion.
This comes as a portion of the around 60,000 intern instructors staged a walkout on Monday when classes resumed for the second semester, calling for higher compensation and the conversion of their internship agreements to permanent, pensionable positions.
According to Anyuor, the commission would act appropriately in accordance with stay orders following a decision that determined the intern instructors’ employment to be unlawful.
The commission is informed that certain interns are participating in picketing. Since May 13, when classes resumed, the commission has ordered that data be gathered by this Friday. This way, we will be able to determine who is in class and who is not, and the teacher’s code of conduct provisions will be implemented accordingly, Anyuor stated.
He made his remarks on Wednesday during his appearance before the National Assembly Committee on Education to provide input on the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year (2024–2025).
TSC is now threatening to fire teaching interns.
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