JSS teachers to be recruited on permanent and pensionable terms starting July 2024 and not January 2025.
National Assembly Committee on Education tells Budget and Appropriation committee that TSC will convert all 26,000 interns into PnP terms
Parliament approves Sh 8.3 billion to convert 26,000 and another Sh 4.68 billion to recruit an additional interns
The Teachers Service Commission will now find it hard after parliament allocated and Sh 8.3 billion and ordered them to hire 26,000 teachers serving in Junior Secondary Schools on PnP terms starting from July 1st 2024 and not as earlier communicated by commission in January, 2025
The 26,000 teachers who have been serving on contracts terms have had difficult times with their employer but now it’s a relief will not wait until January 2025 to confirm their permanent and pensionable terms after National Assembly Committee on Education chaired by Tinderet lawmaker Julius Melly intervened
The decision is a reverse to these teachers who have been on streets demanding TSC to hire them on permanent and pensionable terms since the schools reopened with their employer and other ministry officials stating their earlier status quo
Melly, told National Assembly Budget and Appropriation committee chaired by Ndindi Nyoro that TSC will now employ the tutors on July 2024 and not January 2025 and that Sh 8.3 billion has been allocated for their employment on permanent and pensionable terms
While presenting budget for the Ministry of Education for the Financial year 2024/25 to Kiharu MP led committee, Melly said that, “Beginning the next financial year, Teachers Service Commission should streamline the recruitment process and ensure that the resources allocated to this function is fully utilized.
Further, the commission should convert the 26,000 interns to permanent and pensionable terms on July 2024 and not on January 2025 as proposed,”.
Last week, TSC wrote a `show cause’ letters to 7,357 teachers who were recorded absent and therefore assumed to have been participating in the demonstration forcing for their PnP terms
These strikes have since paralyzed learning activities in Junior Secondary Schools since the beginning of the second term
The tutors will now start with a basic salary of Sh36,621 and house allowance between Sh9,600 and Sh16,500 depending on the location of deployment by TSC
They will also benefit from commuter allowance, leave allowance of Sh 4000 per annum and medical insurance cover as provided for civil servants schemes
The Education Committee asked TSC to, within six months, undertake and evaluate staff norms requirements for all institutions for basic learning from primary, junior and senior schools in order to assess the optimal number of teachers required to guide future resource allocation for recruitment of teachers and deployment.
Melly also told [BAC] that additional Sh 4.68 billion is required to recruit an additional 20,000 interns beginning the next financial year 2024/25
“TSC requires Sh 1 billion for promotion of teachers and another Sh 13 billion for implementation of the second phase of collective bargaining agreement for 2021-2025,” Melly told Nyoro committee
On this, Kitui Central MP Dr Makali Mulu, questioned why the TSC has not been promoting qualified teachers from Kitui County and instead bring new faces terming such malpractices as discriminative and retrogressive to the teachers who have spent their lifetime and resources in advancing their career
Embakasi East counterpat Babu Owino proposed that all JSS teachers should take home not less than Sh 46,000 those serving in hardship areas and not less than Sh 38,000 for other areas starting from July, 2024
“The commission required Sh 2 billion to carry out these promotions where Sh 1billion was provided for in this financial year starting July 2024 and proposed that the 2024/25 will support the successful completion of these promotions to teachers who have already been stagnated for over 17 years will benefit,” Melly submitted