TSC pleads with intern teachers to avert strike after Supreme Court ruling
TSC pleads with intern teachers to avert strike after Supreme Court ruling
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is asking the more than 44,000 intern teachers to remain committed to their work in a plea to avert a nationwide strike that could paralyse learning in Junior Secondary Schools.
JSS teachers across the country took to the streets last week, demanding that the Commission immediately confirm all 44,000 interns to permanent and pensionable terms and publish an official implementation roadmap outlining clear dates and procedures for their confirmation.
However, TSC has maintained it has no funding to effect such hiring and received huge relief on Thursday after the Supreme Court ruled in its favour.
“We urge our teachers to remain committed in their work as the Commission strives to improve their terms and conditions of service and their general welfare,” TSC Acting CEO Evaleen Mitei said in a statement on Friday.
The Supreme Court overturned a Court of Appeal ruling that declared the teacher internship programme unconstitutional.
Mitei cautioned that learning would have been seriously disrupted if the programme had ended abruptly, especially in junior secondary schools where many of the interns are stationed.
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Over two million junior school students nationwide are currently receiving assistance from the intern teachers, according to TSC.
“The Commission underscores that the sudden termination of the programme, as initially directed by the Court of Appeal, would have been extremely disruptive and detrimental to the interests of more than two million Junior School students,” Mitei stated.
Adding, “This is particularly pertinent given that no budget had been allocated for the immediate, permanent employment of the teacher interns.”
Chief Justice Martha Koome and five other Supreme Court judges issued an order on April 30, 2026, granting the TSC interim stay orders, thereby stopping the execution of the Court of Appeal’s February 27 ruling, which deemed the contracts illegal and invalidated the internship programme.
In an effort to alleviate the disruptions, Mitei stated that the Commission has already begun working with the National Treasury, the National Assembly, and other government agencies to secure funding that will allow the interns to be hired on permanent and pensionable contracts.
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