TSC Nancy Macharia to appear in Senate over fate of JSS intern teachers

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) boss Dr. Nancy Macharia is set to face senators over alleged discrimination and the fate of tutors hired on contract terms by the agency.

The development comes after thousands of junior secondary school teachers hired on contract basis threatened to strike in January next year.

This after the commission announced plans to extend their contracts instead of hiring them on permanent and pensionable terms.

The move has now triggered concerns in Parliament, with senators demanding answers from the Nancy Macharia-led commission on its plans for the tutors.

Led by nominated Senator Esther Okenyuri, the lawmakers want the commission to explain whether the teachers were eligible for employment on permanent terms.

Okenyuri sought the answers from the Senate Education Committee chaired by Nyeri Senator Joseph Nyutu, which is set to summon Macharia to explain the concerns.

“The committee should explain whether these contract-employed teachers are eligible for employment by TSC on permanent and pensionable terms,” Okenyuri said.

The commission will also answer to claims that the teachers are discriminated against during regular replacement, recruitment and employment of permanent and pensionable teachers.

Further, Okenyuri wants the TSC to disclose the total number of teachers currently employed by on non-permanent and pensionable terms, and state how many are hired per year of recruitment.

“The commission (through the committee) to elaborate the career growth path plans in place by the TSC to grow and advance the careers of these young contract employed teachers,” she said.

The commission will also indicate where in the TSC human resource policy or TSC regulations the career growth of teachers hired on contract is captured.

Last Wednesday, JSS teachers in Homa Bay protested against the TSC’s move to retain them on temporary terms.

The JSS teacher have lamented that they have worked for a year without proper employment terms despite the huge workload they experience in such institutions.

The teachers, under the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers, had earlier complained of being overworked and given tasks in the primary schools they are domiciled in. 

“In some schools, the JSS teachers are compelled to teach primary school classes and subjects that they have not been trained to teach,” Siaya county executive secretary Sam Opondo said recently.

In Kwale, Kwale JSS intern teachers also threatened to strike if they won’t be permanently absorbed by January 2024.

The more than 700 JSS teachers claimed the government is violating their rights after working on contract basis for a year.

“We want the TSC to convert the terms of the contract to permanent and pensionable,” Kuppet Kwale executive secretary Leonard Oronje said.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers has also opposed the extension of contracts for intern teachers, saying they should now be put on permanent and pensionable terms.

“We sat with TSC and signed a Memorandum of Understanding that says the teachers have been accepted as interns,” Knut secretary general Collins Oyuu stated.

“Our proposal was for one year but now saying the contracts might be renewed… That will not happen.”

They have been teaching in JSS institutions, which are currently domiciled in primary schools across the country.

The commission had promised to transit them into permanent and pensionable basis.