National Assembly Committee to Meet TSC on Junior Secondary School Intern Employment
The National Assembly Education Committee is set to meet with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) tomorrow to discuss the employment of 46,000 Junior Secondary School interns.
This meeting follows a recent Court of Appeal ruling that halted the plans to convert these intern positions to permanent and pensionable terms.
Last week, Justices Asike Makhandia, Sankale Ole Kantai, and Ngenye Macharia of the Court of Appeal suspended an order from the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) which required TSC to make the internships permanent and pensionable.
As a result, the interns teachers will continue in their current roles until the case, filed by the commission led by Nancy Macharia, is resolved.
TSC argued that the ELRC’s orders disrupted their plans since the necessary funds to hire the interns on permanent terms were not budgeted.
TSC’s lawyer, Allan Sitima, reported that the financial shortfall risks violating the rights of learners in public schools as outlined in Articles 43 and 53 of the Constitution.
He emphasized that TSC lacks the financial resources to onboard the 46,000 interns on permanent and pensionable terms.
In addition to the intern issue, TSC is expected to update the committee on the status of teacher promotions for those in their 40s and 50s.
TSC is currently facing a substantial financial gap of Sh3.2 billion in transitioning the interns to permanent positions.
Although the government has allocated Sh13.4 billion for this purpose, TSC had initially estimated that Sh16.6 billion would be needed, leaving a significant deficit.
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The allocation process has been contentious, marked by strikes, layoffs, and an ongoing court case between the interns and TSC.
During the presentation of the 2024-25 budget to Parliament, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u proposed the Sh13.4 billion allocation, acknowledging it as substantial but insufficient to fully meet TSC’s financial requirements.
National Assembly Committee to Meet TSC on Junior Secondary School Intern Employment
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