Intern Teachers Call Off Strike, KUPPET and TSC Sign Agreement
Teachers Call Off Strike. Junior secondary school teachers (JSS) have decided to return to work on Monday following a three-week strike.
This comes after JSS and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) leadership signed a return to work agreement in Nairobi yesterday.
Akelo Misori, the secretary general of KUPPET, declared that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will no longer be issuing show-cause letters to teachers who have absconded from their duties.
“The letters were sent out even after the National Assembly Committee on Education intervened to advocate for additional funding to break the deadlock,” Misori stated.
The government’s refusal to offer permanent employment to the 46,000 JSS instructors has sparked protests among them.
He said, “The union and the commission have agreed that by June 3rd, all show-cause letters and notices to exit that were previously issued to the teachers will be withdrawn and normalcy returned to JSS institutions.”
Intern Teachers Call Off Strike, KUPPET and TSC Sign An Agreement
The three-hour discussion resulted in the agreement that all teachers will be hired by the employer on a permanent and pensionable basis by July 1st, rather than January of the following year. He said,
“The union and the commission have agreed that by June 3rd, all show-cause letters and notices to exit that were previously issued to the teachers will be withdrawn and normalcy returned to JSS institutions.”
The three-hour discussion resulted in the agreement that all teachers will be hired by the employer on a permanent and pensionable basis by July 1st, rather than January of the following year.
By January 2025, the government planned to hire 26,000 intern teachers with Sh8.3 billion put aside.
An additional Sh4.5 billion has been set aside for the employment of 20,000 teaching interns.
However, KUPPET requests in the new agreement that TSC use the funds to change all 46,000 JSS instructors’ status to permanent rather than hiring more interns.
Misori stated that dialogues can be used to address issues facing the education industry. We desired JSS to be located in the secondary area for this reason.
The primary schools are overstretched, but the senior institutions have adequate resources,” he stated.
He claimed that their hiring on a permanent and pensionable basis had received great approval from the union.
“JSS is the backbone of the education system, laying the groundwork for the Competency-Based Curriculum to be implemented successfully.
Even when the teachers voiced their concerns on the streets, we have remained unresponsive to them, Misori claimed.
The teachers’ petition stems from a ruling rendered last month by the Employment and Labour Relations Court that criticized their contract hiring.
Intern Teachers Call Off Strike, KUPPET and TSC Sign An Agreement
The teachers could only be hired by TSC on a permanent and pensionable basis, the court had said.
KUPPETS states that they are prepared to collaborate with the National Treasury and other government agencies to find a legal solution to this problem, according to Misori.
The Junior Secondary Teachers Association’s Assistant Organising Secretary, Murunga Muliro, urged educators to go back to the classroom on Monday.
“A number of issues have been resolved in agreement with the union, and we are here to declare the conclusion of the three-week strike,” he declared.
Intern Teachers Call Off Strike, KUPPET and TSC Sign An Agreement
