Intern teachers win big as TSC gets Sh13.4bn for hiring
Intern teachers win big as TSC gets Sh13.4bn for hiring
Intern teachers win big as TSC gets Sh13.4bn for hiring
The government has allocated Sh13.4 billion for the permanent employment of almost 46,000 intern teachers in junior secondary schools, so they may now relax.
This is a portion of the budget allocation for the education sector, which is the highest at Sh656.6 billion. From the previous budget’s Sh628 billion, this represents an increase of Sh28 billion.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC), which is the employer of teachers, will receive around half of the funds, or Sh358.2 billion.
The allocation towards employment of intern teachers follows months of a standoff, a strike, layoffs and a pending court case between the interns and TSC.
In May, TSC told Parliament that it planned to convert the status of the interns to permanent and pensionable in January 2025, after they had served as interns for two years.
But the National Assembly’s Committee on Education petitioned for the hiring of the first cohort of 26,000 teachers on permanent and pensionable terms in July this year.
TSC stated that it would need Sh16.6 billion to employ the interns. This means TSC still has a shortfall of Sh3.2 billion for the conversion.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u told Parliament at the 2024–2025 budget presentation, “I have proposed an allocation of Sh13.4 billion for the conversion of 46,000 Junior Secondary School interns to Permanent and Pensionable terms.”
Additionally, junior secondary schools will get Sh1.3 billion for teacher training in the Competency-Based Curriculum and Sh1 billion for the building of classrooms.
Primary and secondary schools are included in the basic education wing, which is allocated Sh142.3 billion. Of this, junior secondary schools would receive Sh30.7 billion for capitation, while Free Primary Education will receive Sh9.1 billion. Institutions would get Sh61.9 billion to support Free Day Secondary Education.
Amounts totaling Sh5 billion have been provided to the Kenya National Examinations Council to waive exam fees. Additionally, Ndung’u suggested Sh3.2 billion for the improvement of school infrastructure.
A total of Sh128 billion would be allocated to research and higher education. The amount allotted to TVET institutions is Sh30.7 billion.
The Higher Education Loans Board will receive Sh35.9 billion for university and TVET students, with Sh16.9 billion allocated to university scholarships and Sh7.7 billion for TVET capitation and scholarships.
Further allocations include Sh1.1 billion for Research, Science and Technology Innovation and Sh1.8 billion for the construction of integrated resource centres for learning.
The Treasury suggested spending Sh360 million on the Digital Literacy Program and ICT integration in secondary schools. Sh11.1 billion has been allotted to the Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning initiative, and Sh1.5 billion to the Kenya Secondary Schools Quality Improvement project.
