- Kuppet secretary general Nakuru branch Dancun Macharia said the court had since ruled the internship to be illegal.
- Teachers Service Commission, he said, must issue letters of confirmation before the interns resume their services.
Image: GEORGE MURAGE
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers has accused the government of intimidation as the strike by the junior secondary school intern teachers enters the fourth week.
While pledging that the teachers will not return to class until their demands are met, they called on students and parents to brace for hard times ahead.
The teachers, consisting of 46,000 interns, have been demanding that the government allocate adequate budgetary allocation in the next financial year.
According to Kuppet chairman Nakuru branch Simon Kimani, the interns would not return to work until their demands are met.
He said that the government had been paying them a meagre pay of a Sh17,000 per month, which could not meet their daily needs.
The chairman said that the interns would not revert back to work amid threats and intimidation by heads of schools.
"The government is saying there is no money to meet the demands of teachers but we have seen the President hiring a luxurious private jet at a cost of Sh200 million,” he said.
Kuppet secretary general Nakuru branch Dancun Macharia said the court had since ruled the internship to be illegal.
Teachers Service Commission, he said, must issue letters of confirmation before the interns resume their services.
TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia tasked the parliamentary budget committee to effect adequate budgetary allocation to cater for the demands of all the interns teachers.
According to chairperson of the Naivasha JSS teachers George Owino, the interns would continue to suspend their services until there is commitment by the government to fulfil their demands.
Owino said Sh17,000 pay was too little to meet and sustain their daily needs at a time when the cost of living has skyrocketed.
"We want TSC to come clean on the status of interns teachers by ensuring that all the 46,000 teachers are issued with letters of permanent and pensionable terms," he said.
Issac Mungai, an intern teacher, said that TSC had promised to confirm the interns after one year of service only to change course by extending the internship period to two years.
"We are not going back to the classrooms until the government meets our demands by ensuring our contracts are converted to permanent and pensionable terms as promised," he said.