Govt to employ 20,000 JSS teachers, promote 30,000 more

The government is set to employ 20,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers and promote over 30,000 more from June this year.

This was agreed at the end of a six-day joint meeting between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) held at Sawela Lodge in Naivasha.

KUPPET National Chairman Omboko Milemba said Ksh.4 billion would be required for the employment of the 20,000 teachers who would come in handy in addressing the crisis in JSS across the country.

He noted that out of 50,000 teachers who had stagnated for years, 30,000 would benefit in the coming financial year.

Milemba noted that since 2017, the majority of teachers had not been promoted, adding that the Naivasha meeting had resolved this with effect from June this year.

“What the commission needs to ask Parliament, and they promised they have already asked, for them to employ the 20,000 teachers is a total of Ksh.4 billion and we have 26,000 teachers who are supposed to be confirmed to permanent and pensionable, that will cost Ksh.7.8 billion,” he said.

“The commission has also promised to look into the issue of those teachers who had got ten presidential decrees of being promoted and ensure they are promoted.”

Milemba said that the government had promised to relook into the teachers’ medical cover.

On his part, the union Secretary General Akelo Misori said that of the 20,000 teachers who would be employed in JSS, at least 2,000 would be posted to ASAL regions.

He added that TSC had agreed that in January 2025, it would convert all the 26,000 intern teachers recruited in 2023 to permanent and pensionable terms.

According to Misori, TSC has agreed to the union’s demand to review the Career Progression Guidelines that have contributed to stagnation among teachers and to develop new guidelines through public participation.

He added that the union was satisfied by the recent promotion of over 50,000 teachers after an audit indicated that only 14 cases had issues.

“The commission has addressed our concerns about the promotion of teachers not in the payroll and explained the remedy for 14 teachers who earned the promotion while not being in the payroll,” he said.

The SG expressed the union's concern over poor staffing of schools, in particular Junior Secondary Schools where only two teachers per stream were handling all the learning areas.

On delayed pension for teachers, Misori said that TSC was working jointly with the Department of Pensions on Administrative Action to hasten the processes.