Kitui JSS intern teachers demand permanent jobs

Junior secondary school intern teachers in Kitui county have vowed to boycott work in January unless they are employed on permanent and pensionable terms.

The JSS tutors also dismissed the Sh17,000 salary they get as peanuts. They said the amount is only pocket change for their colleagues on permanent employment.

Further, the intern teachers claimed that the Teacher Service Commission was unfairly remunerating them as interns while in other government department interns earn an upward of Sh30,000 monthly.

The teachers on Wednesday marched along the streets of Kitui town to protest against TSC's intentions to renew their contracts instead of giving them permanent jobs.

The carried placards reading, 'No confirmation, no renewal; Domicile JSS in senior schools; Why block JSS teachers to apply for replacement slot?; Interns are frustrated and tired. No work in 2024!; Punda amechoka. Confirm us, period.'

The protesters said unless TSC shelves the plan to keep them on contract for another year and give them permanent terms, all the 1,799 JSS intern teachers in Kitui county will go on strike.

Representative Fredrick Mulwa said JSS teachers have served on contract for a year.

“The Sh17,000 the TSC pay us every month is too meagre to cater to our families needs. Actually, it amounts to pocket change for fellow teachers who are permanent and pensionable,” he said.

“We expect nothing less from the TSC than letters confirming us to permanent and pensionable terms.” 

Another teacher, Rhoda Monicah said, “Our terms of engagement are very clear. Our non-renewable contracts are lapsing on December 31 but they want to extend them to 2025. We want to tell them without doubts that we are not ready for that.”

Kitui Kuppet branch executive secretary Kioko Mutia, who joined the protest, said since the contracts for the intern teachers were to end on December 31, TSC has no choice but to give them permanent terms.

He said TSC had also grossly underpaid the teachers as the Sh17,000 was not commensurate with their qualifications as others with the same qualifications earned better pay and enjoyed permanent terms.

Mutia said JSS should be moved from primary school to secondary schools where it belongs. He said it was a mistake to domicile JSS in primary schools.