TSC Issues A Strong Warning, Signaling Hard Times Ahead For Striking Intern Teachers.
Striking intern teachers face difficult times ahead. The Teachers Service Commission has mandated that striking intern teachers return to their classrooms. TSC claims that the National Internship Program is an effort by the government to provide people with practical work experience.
The TSC said in a statement on Tuesday that the striking intern teachers are disobeying court orders. The statement said, “The Commission calls upon the teacher interns engaged under the program to obey the court order and return to school as teaching and learning in all public schools formally resumed on May 13, 2024.”
They contend that although though the petitioner was granted a favorable ruling by the court, the decision was later pushed up until August 1, 2024.
This comes after the Forum for Good Governance and Human Rights challenged the Teacher Internship Program in court.
Until they are hired permanently and get pensions by the Teachers Service Commission, intern instructors at junior secondary schools have vowed to continue holding statewide demonstrations.
Striking Intern Teachers Face Difficult Times Ahead
The intern instructors are currently employed on an annual basis. On April 17, Justice Bryrum Ongaya of the Employment and Labour Relations Court found that TSC had violated the intern instructors’ entitlement to fair labor practices because they are certified and licensed teachers.
“The respondents have not exhibited statutory regulatory or policy arrangements that would entitle the first respondent (TSC) to employ interns,” Ongaya said in the verdict.
“Ideally, the first respondent should hire registered teachers on nondiscriminatory terms and to satisfy public school staffing needs as best as possible,” the verdict stated.
Chairperson Owino Okelo of Nairobi County JSS intern teachers led the teachers in a protest on Monday.
They marched to TSC headquarters from the bus terminal in Nairobi.
Until we are confirmed into permanent and pensionable conditions, JSS teachers in Nairobi and throughout the nation will continue to go on strike, he declared.
According to Okelo, the teachers would not be working as interns in schools because the TSC internship program has been declared illegal by the courts.
He said, “We obey the court order by staying away from schools and all teachers shall be involved in peaceful demos as call and agitation for action from TSC,” in an attempt to abide by the court’s decision.
The instructors want the certification of pensionable and permanent terms. They also want compensation for the time they worked as interns without getting paid.
In line with the court’s ruling, Okelo said, “TSC has the right to meet with the educators to discuss the interns’ confirmation into permanent and pensionable positions.”
TSC Issues A Strong Warning, Signaling Hard Times Ahead For Striking Intern Teachers.
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