The Teacher’s Service Commission has resolved to come up with a plan to solve the JSS Interns Standoff that has threatened the opening of Junior Secondary Schools in January.
This comes after the Junior Secondary Schools Interns refused to sign a new contract that requires them to go for an extra year to make it two years working under internship contract before the commision employs them under permanent and pensionable employment terms.
According to various reports, the Teacher’s Service Commission is planning to terminate contracts for striking intern teachers and subsequently advertise their positions immediately the festivities are over in a bid to avoid disruption in school re-opening.
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Currently, the Commission has a total of 46,000 teachers working under internship terms, both in primary and junior secondary school (JSS) and there is an aim to fill these positions with numerous unemployed graduate teachers. This wil replace the intern teachers who are reluctant to renew their contracts.
Despite President William Ruto’s promise to employ the intern teachers after the two year internship period, the teachers have been reluctant to call off their strike scheduled on January 1st 2024.
The teachers claim that the initial agreement was for a one-year non-renewable contract as interns before transitioning to permanent roles thus the JSS Interns Standoff with contracts scheduled to end on December 31, 2023 and they have vowed not to renew.
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The inyerns are now accusing the government of pressuring them into accepting new contracts which goes against the initial agreement.
However, a Labour court directive dated December 19th prohibits TSC and Ministry of Education from altering internship contracts till the legal proceedings conclude.
The teachers have vowed not to back down while TSC on the other hand has said they will employ the first batch of teachers under permanent terms in 2025 thus devising a new plan by employing replacements into the internship roles.
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