The Supreme Court has suspended the Court of Appeal ruling declaring Teachers Service Commission (TSC) internship programme unconstitutional.
In its directive, the Apex Court has allowed the scheme to continue pending appeal.
The February 27 Court of Appeal ruling had found that hiring trained and registered teachers as interns at lower pay than permanently employed teachers amounts to discrimination.
Supreme Court Suspends Ruling on TSC Internship Programme
The Court of Appeal upheld a decision by the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) declaring the policy unconstitutional.
The Employment and Labor Relations Court had previously found that trained and registered teachers engaged as interns were subjected to unfair labor practices and discrimination by being denied standard employment terms applicable to similarly qualified teachers.
It also held that TSC had not established a constitutional or statutory mandate to employ teachers known as interns and its constitutional and statutory mandate was to employ registered teachers.
“Only to that extent does the appeal succeed. We uphold the declaration by the ELRC that Circular TSC/DS/RECRUIT/ADVER/18A/VOL II dated January 4, 2023, and the subsequent internship contracts contravened the provisions of the constitution,” the ruling reads.
Also Read: NSSF Announces One-Year Internship Opportunities for Degree and Diploma Holders; How to Apply
TSC Submissions
TSC maintained that an internship at the place of work is a common universal practice across various professions, with foundations in law and employment market practices, and is crucial for economic, social, and political development.
It argued that the advertisement and engagement of teacher interns was designed to benefit unemployed teachers with relevant pre-employment qualifications, and that the nature of this engagement is purely ‘internship’, distinct from a standard contract of service under the Employment Act.
Consequently, it is contended, the terms of engagement for interns cannot be strictly or exclusively directed by the minimum terms of service applicable to an employee drawing a wage or salary.
Also Read: TSC Takes Stand on Hiring 44,000 Intern Teachers on Permanent and Pensionable Terms
In a circular dated January 4, 2023, the Commission invited trained and registered teachers to apply for 35,550 vacancies for teachers and teacher interns.
The vacancies included 9,000 secondary school positions on permanent and pensionable terms to be deployed to junior secondary schools, 1,000 permanent and pensionable primary school posts, 21,550 secondary school internship positions for junior secondary schools, and 4,000 primary school internship slots.
This comes as Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers across Kenya, led by officials from the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), took to the streets demanding that the TSC immediately convert the status of over 44,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms.
