TSC sued for recruiting qualified teachers as interns

A city lawyer-cum trained teacher has gone to court challenging the recruitment of 10,300 trained teachers as interns.

Lempaa Suyianka wants the execution and implementation of the contracts with the Teachers' Service Commission suspended pending the hearing and determination of the case.

The TSC had on October 8, last year, invited applications to fill 10,300 teacher internships – 4,300 for primary and 6,000 for secondary schools.

Lempaa says the TSC is in the process of hiring trained and qualified primary and secondary school teachers on contracts that will impose an internship status on the tutors without a guarantee of permanent and pensionable employment.

“On December 2, last year, I issued TSC with a request for information regarding the said contracts seeking information on the rationale that was used to arrive at Sh10,000 and Sh15,000 for primary and high school teachers respectively as remuneration,” he said.

He also wants to know whether the employer had consulted the Salaries and Remuneration Commission on the amounts and whether it was in line with the TSC vs Knut Court of Appeal decision.

“The TSC has declined and neglected to give me the requested information in accordance with the law," the lawyer says.

Lempaa maintains that the petition raises issues of public interest in relation to the recruitment and employment of primary and secondary school teachers by the TSC.

The TSC, in last October's newspaper advert, said applicants must be qualified teachers and duly registered in accordance with the TSC Act.

The advert indicated that the positions were not remunerative, the lawyer said.

Lempaa has also accused the SRC of failing to ensure that equity and fairness are achieved in the public sector when the purported contracts were developed and implemented by the TSC.