Primary and Junior Secondary School (JSS) intern teachers have reason to celebrate. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) plans to convert 26,000 of their positions to permanent and pensionable terms starting January 2025. This move is expected to cost Ksh 8.3 billion.
National Treasury Allocates Budget to TSC
The National Treasury has allocated Ksh 364.91 billion to the TSC for the 2024/2025 financial year to support its operations.
Budget Breakdown and Adjustments
The Commission’s approved budget allocation is Ksh 369.9 billion as per the Budget Policy Statement for 2024. Nevertheless, as seen in the draft budget estimates for financial year 2024/25, it reflects an allocation of Ksh 364.910 billion which essentially indicates a decrease of Ksh 5.033 billion in recurrent expenditure and Ksh 33 million in development expenditure.
JSS Teachers Continue Strike
While the news of paying intern teachers sounds all rosy and good, the JSS intern teachers have continued to demonstrate. They do not want to go back to classrooms as schools start for second term. The teachers want TSC to follow Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) order. The court decided that their rights were breached when they were employed as interns rather than permanent and pensionable workers.
Current Situation and Salary Discrepancies
Currently, JSS teachers work on one-year contracts. Primary school teachers receive Ksh 15,000, while their JSS counterparts earn Ksh 20,000.
Budget Allocations for Hiring and Promotions
The budget allocates Ksh 4.68 billion to the TSC for hiring an additional 20,000 interns in primary and JSS schools to address the teacher shortage in these institutions.
Additionally, the budget assigns Ksh 1 billion for teacher promotions. This is comparable to the previous year’s expenditure, where the Commission promoted 36,505 teachers to higher grades based on the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG). These promotions addressed situations where teachers had been stuck in the same job group for extended periods.