Court Ruling On JSS Intern Teachers Serving Under TSC Contract

Court Ruling On JSS Intern Teachers Serving Under TSC Contract

Court Ruling On JSS Intern Teachers Serving Under TSC Contract

More than 50,000 teachers employed as interns by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) may receive their full salary for the duration of their contracts after the court’s April 2024 ruling.

By illegally assigning internship positions to teachers who are already qualified and hold teaching certificates, TSC was found to have violated their right to fair labor practices, according to the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) (TSC numbers).

During the reading of the decision in this case, Justice Byrum Ongaya stated that the TSC commission is not permitted to employ or work with student teachers or interns.This is so because the commission’s mandate is restricted to hiring teachers who are both qualified and officially registered.

Justice Ongaya continued, saying that in order to meet the ideal staffing needs in public schools, particularly junior secondary, the first respondent (TSC) should hire intern teachers on nondiscriminatory terms.

The fate of Junior Secondary is in jeopardy due to a court ruling that was issued just two weeks before classes resume for the second term.

This is merely because the teachers who the court found to have been subjected to unfair treatment by TSC are also the teachers who have played a pivotal role in the Junior Secondary School’s implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

In an attempt to address the teacher shortage in schools, particularly in junior secondary schools, the commission developed an internship program.

The court decision comes at a time when the intern teachers are fighting to have the government program suspended and the extension of the intern program for a second year, so they are relieved.

The intern program was originally intended to run for a year before the interns were taken on a permanent and pensionable basis, but this was altered.

President William Ruto, the head of state, stated back in December 2023 that the intern teachers would have to serve an additional year, for a total of two years, before they could be considered for permanent and pensionable terms of recruitment.

Due to a lack of specialization, intern teachers trained to teach two subjects have been forced to teach everything since being posted in junior secondary, including the sciences, performing arts, creative arts, and pre-technical studies, about which they know nothing.

Additionally, interns have been protesting about the deductions the government makes from their monthly stipend of sh 20,000, which is now only sh $17,000.

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