The nearly 60,000 teachers hired by the Teachers Service Commission as interns will continue working under the same terms. Two weeks ago, the Employment and Labor Relations Court (ELRC) found their employment contracts to be illegal.

But on Friday, a court directed that the status of their employment should remain. This is until the com-mission either gets temporary orders from the Court of Appeal or reaches a compromise.

Justice Byrum Ongaya, however, gave TSC a grace period of three months, meaning that it has to seek intervention from the higher court or absorb all the affected teachers on a permanent and pensionable terms.

A day after Ongaya issued the orders, the Kenya Junior Secondary School Teachers Association (KeJUSTA) wrote to its members saying it is waiting for the interpretation of the term ‘status quo.

It argued that it was unclear what the judge meant.

“I wish to caution teachers against misguided interpretation of the ruling and the misplacement of the term status quo as it appears in the ruling,” wrote KeJUSTA Secretary General Daniel Murithi.

In the meantime, TSC moved back to court to suspend the judgment claiming that it would jeopardize its plan to employ the interns next year.

However, Justice Ongaya said the application meant that TSC was asking him to sit on his own judgment. He however stated that status quo be maintained until August 1,2024.

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“It is in the interest of justice, it appears to the court that it would be appropriate for the status quo prior to the judgment to be maintained with respect to the findings and orders of court in the judgment, pending a compromise or rearrangement of the affairs between parties or applicants filing appropriate application at the Court of Appeal,” ruled Justice Ongaya.

Ongaya ruled that TSC had violate the right to fair labour practices by giving the teachers internship posi-tions while they were qualified and possess teaching licenses.

TSC hired at least 60,000 teachers as interns to teach junior secondary schools(JSS).

The teachers, who have been the backbone of implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum, have vowed not to go back to work until the issue is resolved, throwing the fate of JSSs into limbo.

In his verdict, Justice Ongaya said the commission cannot hire or engage student-teachers or interns as its mandate is limited to employing those who are qualified and registered.

“The respondents have not exhibited statutory regulatory or policy arrangements that would entitle the first respondent (TSC) to employ in-terns. Ideally, the first respondent should employ registered teachers upon terms that are not discriminatory and to meet the optimal staffing needs in public schools,” he said.

The programme was introduced to reduce teacher shortage in schools, particularly at the advent of junior secondary school. It was initially set to run for one year before the interns were absorbed on permanent basis. But in December, President William Ruto announced that the teachers will be required to serve an extension of one year before they can be considered for employment.

In the case, the court heard that TSC gave contracts to the interns to teach two subjects. However, in reality, they ended up teaching every subject.

There were also complaints that despite the tutors being paid a stipend TSC deducted all taxes and contributions required by the government, including the controversial housing levy.

The case was filed by the Forum for Good Governance and Human Rights on behalf of the interns. It indicated that those hired were not supervised but left to grapple with all subjects on their own.

“The second respondent is handling the lives and rights of the children casually as test guinea pigs to confirm whether the CBC, can work,” the court heard.

One of the affected teachers filed an affidavit in support of the case. In his affidavit, Oroso Oganga narrated that he was sent to Eking Narok Primary School in Kajiado County.

A Bachelor of Education (Arts) graduate, he said his contract with TSC was clear that he was to teach History or Christian Religious Education. When he reported to the school on February 7,2023,however,he end-ed up teaching Computer Science, Integrated Science, Social Studies, CRE, Health Education and Life Skills.

Oroso said despite all that work, he was paid only a Sh20,000 stipend.

Secondary Schools

 CCD SECONDARY

1. BURUBURU GIRLS
2. SHADRACK KIMALEL
3. KIVAYWA BOYS

MIME SECONDARY

1. KARIMA GIRLS’
2. OBAMBO
3. WAJIR GIRLS’

SOLO VERSE SECONDARY

1. OLOOLTEPES
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3. STAREHE BOYS

SPOKEN WORD SECONDARY

1. SIYU
2. NJORO GIRLS’
3. MILIMANI NAIROBI

CHORAL VERSE SECONDARY

1. MOI GIRLS NAIROBI
2. BUNGOMA HIGH
3. TIGOI GIRLS’

KSL PLAY SECONDARY

1. ST. ANGELA MUMIAS
2. FR. ODRA
3. KEDOHA

PLAY SECONDARY

1. MUKUUNI
2. FSK
3. SHIMO LA TEWA

STAND UP COMEDY SECONDARY

1. COUNTY GIRLS
2. SHABIR
3. RAMBA BOYS

NARRATIVE SECONDARY

1. FSK
2. LWAK GIRLS
3. RINGA BOYS

MODERN DANCE SECONDARY

1. KANGARU
2. KODERO OBARA
3. TUMAINI SCHOOL

Secondary French items

SOLO

1. Tigoi
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3. Rang’ala Girls

Choral

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Play

1. Highway Secondary
2. Bunyore
3. Aliance

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has told public universities and other higher learning institutions to come up with innovations that can help them remain afloat in the face of shrinking funding.

The CS said the government will not change its new higher education funding model for universities anytime soon, noting the new approach had addressed challenges that universities and TVET institutions have been grappling with.

“Some of you are yet to move out of your comfort zones to become part of the solution to the problems that afflict our universities,” said Machogu.

Machogu was speaking in Mombasa when he graced the 2024 leadership training workshop for university vice chancellors and principals.

He confirmed that the government had disbursed Sh23.6 billion for funding education of first year students who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam last year and have been placed at various universities under the new funding model.

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He said the funds will benefit government-sponsored students who successfully made their applications through the recently launched financing portal. He said the funds would also benefit the 2023/2024 cohort of continuing students who are in their second semester.

“I wish to inform you that so far the government has disbursed Sh23.6 billion for loan and scholarships for first year students under the model. The government disbursed the funds directly to individual universities to cover tuition fees,” said Machogu.

Machogu said the government had also disbursed Sh17.5 billion for capitation for second, third and fourth year students and warned learning institutions against misuse of funds.

“We challenge universities to ensure prudent use of the resources allocated to them. There have been integrity challenges, but we call for prudent leadership in managing the resources,” said Machogu.

The Cabinet Secretary said the enrollment rate for public university was at 80 per cent and the government was seeking to establish where the 20 per cent went.

“We are very concerned, where are these 20 per cent? Have they gone to other tertiary institutions? I think we need to establish where they are because the government has already invested in their education and this is wastage of resources,” said Machogu.

He added: “We urge universities to work with communities and other stakeholders to ensure that the transition rate from secondary school to university is raised.We need to ensure that we get value for money.”

Graduate level

The Cabinet Secretary urged the university bosses to curb corruption and create solutions to the financial challenges they face.

“Universities are facing limited and dwindling resources, especially from the Exchequer, a situation which requires prudent management strategies,” he added.

Machogu implored universities to ensure they produce quality graduates who are ready for the job market.

In 2023, 22,774 graduated from Kenyan universities.

He said the rising number of graduates had also been recorded at the graduate level where 455 graduated with doctorate degrees.

“While applauding the commendable rise in graduation rates, exemplified by the impressive number of degrees awarded last year, we must underscore the paramount importance of quality,” said Machogu.

He urged the universities and tertiary institutions to reposition themselves for admitting the first cohort students who complete junior secondary school and align their programmes with the competence based curriculum.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has announced that the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education results will be released after the first week of January.

The exams begun on October 23, and ended on November 24 with 903,260 candidates sitting for the papers.

In an interview with a popular media station, Machogu said that  currently, they are verifying the marks.

“We are done with the marking. What we are currently doing is compiling the marks, verification and validation. So that by the end of the day we release credible results,” he said.

The CS assured that the results will be credible, adding that the marking centres were increased from 35 to 40 to better the working conditions.

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He said the candidates will benefit from a new grading system, unveiled in August, which is aimed at increasing the number of those joining universities.

The system, which is part of the recommendations made by the Presidential Working Party of Education Reforms, focuses on the subjects that candidates are strong in reducing the number of compulsory subjects.

This means that the 2023 KCSE candidates will be graded in two compulsory subjects including Math and any language (Kiswahili, English) or Kenya Sign Language.

Machogu regretted that the current system is unfair to some students whose best subjects are not within the cluster and cannot be taken into account.

“Previously, compulsory subjects included Math, Kiswahili and English languages and two sciences. But this time round we will only have two compulsory subjects that is Math and English, Kiswahili or KSL,” he said.

“We are doing this to allow learners to explore subjects they are good at.”

The change will see a higher number of students qualify for university entry points.

“Even the entry grade for university education, the numbers will increase because last year we had 173,000 students out of 887,000 getting C+ and above which is 19 per cent,” Machogu said.

“Regionally, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania the percentage of people going to university is about 30 per cent.”

CS Machogu’s assurance of credible results comes days after the Kenya National Union of Teachers urged him to give examiners more time to compile and give the candidate the marks they deserve.

Knut national vice chairperson Aggrey Namisi claimed KCPE results were rushed hence having errors, pleading that the same will not be repeated with KCSE.

“Please CS Machogu, we are not in a hurry, give the markers time to analyse results well before you release, we don’t want to experience what happened during the KCPE examination release,” he said while addressing the press in Bungoma on December 23.

“Let the examiners go through the questions, mark, prepare, and give credible results.”

Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Collins Oyuu has said there are people inciting intern Junior Secondary School teachers employed on a one year contract to hold demonstrations.

JSS intern teachers have over the past week been decrying and gathering to hold peaceful demos seeking better terms of contract.

“If you want to conduct a demonstration come out to the streets. Don’t misuse these young teachers. We want to advise our colleagues in the other union movements to be steadfast and forthright in handling teachers. And they must be very sincere,” Oyuu said.

The Knut boss spoke on Sunday during a National Executive Council meeting at the head office.

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Oyuu said there is also a group of senior school principals signing recommendation letters to KUPPET for teachers who ought to be in Knut.

“Who gave room for this Principal from a senior school to come and sign a form for a teacher in the comprehensive school? We are watching and we shall not allow you to muscle the law,” he said.

“How for instance do you engage an intern who is not employed as permanent and pensionable to run into the streets? I was talking to some of them this morning, they don’t even know what they are doing.”

Oyuu said what the interns know is that somebody came and incited them to go the streets.

“And I warned them, go to the streets and you shall no longer be an intern. What will you do?” Oyuu said.

He urged the interns to appear before their union representatives and present their grievances.

He said only then will registered trade unionists come out on behalf of the interns to voice their dissatisfaction with their contracts.

“I want you to watch this space. Right from Monday and the climax shall be the annual delegates conference addressing the plight of the interns and addressing the plight of comprehensive school teachers in matters engagement with trade unions and where they should lie within the law,” he said.

Oyuu said the Teachers Service Commission employed a large number of teachers under the arrangements of interns to address teacher shortages at all levels.

He said most of these teachers are lapsing their contractual terms and do not know what to do or how the commission will handle their cases.

“To be precise, the contract of the first cohort of 20,000 JSS intern teachers is coming to an end on December 31, 2023. Yet the commission has not made any communication to them on what will happen,” he said.

Another cohort of 1000 primary school teachers is ending on April 1, 2024, and the other cohort of 450 secondary school teachers is coming to an end on the same date.

The contract of the second cohort of 18,000 Junior Secondary School teachers is coming to an end on September 1, 2024, the same applies to 2,000 teachers on the same terms in primary schools.

“Knut demands that in the ongoing review of the code of regulations of Teachers; clauses 56 and 58 be removed because they contravene International Labour Conventions and Laws and also the Labour Relations Act, 2007 clause 5. (1),” Oyuu said.

The union further said the fact that the teachers on contracts have served well and with distinction, the commission should without subjecting them to any other prejudice, convert them to permanent and pensionable upon the expiry of their contractual period.

Oyuu said the teachers must be given priority in the impending hiring of teachers in 2024.

A total of 46,000 intern teachers will have to wait a little bit longer before their employment terms are converted to permanent and pensionable after their employer Teachers Service Commission (TSC) affirmed that their term of employment will automatically change after two years.

Appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly last week, the Commission’s Director of Staffing Antonina Lentoijoni stated that the interns will have to wait for another one year before the government confirms them to permanent and pensionable.

“There are two sets of interns. There are those who started on February 1,and those who began working on September 1.The ones we are talking about sending letters of extension of contract for another one year in December are for those in February,”Lentoijoni said.

The Commission appeared before the lawmakers during the hearing of the 2023/2024 supplementary budget by the Committee, which was submitted in the National Assembly by the Chairperson of Budget and Appropriation Committee Ndindi Nyoro on October 26,2023.

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Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has however dismissed their employer’s position stating that TSC must honour its earlier commitment and absorb the teachers to permanent and pensionable immediately their first year term ends.

The Union Secretary General Akelo Misori said the proposal on teachers currently serving on internship contracts in primary and Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) will demoralise them.

“Whereas the teachers’ employment contract clearly stipulates that  they were to serve as interns for only one year,the TSC has not taken the necessary steps to employ them on a permanent basis from January 2024 when their current contract expires,” Misori said.

He argued that teachers have exhibited their patriotism to the nation by going out of their way to offer services to learners despite the hard-working environment.

In the supplementary budget the Ministry of Education will receive a third of the Ksh187.3 billion mini-budget, where education sector will receive Ksh62.1 billion.

In the proposed additional appropriations, the State Department for Higher Education and Research will receive an additional 29.3 billion while TSC is scheduled for an increased allocation of Ksh19.7 billion for teachers’ resource management, signaling the recruitment of tutors to alleviate a biting shortage, which has been exacerbated by the roll-out of the competency-based curriculum.

Teachers have been banned from being members of social media sites which have been flagged for being used to peddle fake examination materials.

It will no longer be business as usual for teachers to join some 33 WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, and X– formerly Twitter– groups during this examination period.

School heads can now breathe easy after the Education ministry on Friday announced it will next week release Sh16 billion for capitation.

This comes after headteachers and principals on  Thursday intimated that the institutions were under a financial impasse that threatened to disrupt the examination preparations.

Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang on Friday indicated that the monies will be appropriated as follows: Junior School will receive Sh1,75B while primary schools will get Sh1,56B.

The bulk of the funds will go to funding secondary schools under the Free Day Secondary Education, the institutions will receive Sh16.24B.

“To ensure normal running of all school activities, the Ministry of Education has received Sh16,249,982,722.28 Billion as capitation funds from The National Treasury for disbursement to learners in public Primary, Junior and Secondary Schools,” Kipsang stated.

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The PS further indicated that the funds will hit the school accounts by next week.

“The Ministry wishes to assure all schools that the funds will be wired to respective school accounts next week to facilitate smooth delivery of targeted learning activities,” the PS added.

At the same time, the government has banned schools from engaging in any activities within their premises in the third term.

Schools opened for the third term of the 2023 academic calendar on August 28 which is scheduled to run until October 27 to pave the way for the KCPE and KPSEA national  examinations that are slated to begin on October 30.

School heads who spoke to the Standard indicated that the financial crunch threatened to halt operations in the institutions and further put into jeopardy the preparation of the KCPE and KCSE examinations.

Kuppet chairman Omboko Milemba said that he had written to Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu seeking for the release of the funds.

He has further called on Parliament to petition the release of the funds.

“I have done two questions to the Parliament through the clerks so that the Cabinet Secretary for Education may come and explain why we have this delay,” Milemba said.

Trisha Khalid is a famous Kenyan actress, businesswoman, and social media personality. She is famous for her role as Ruby in Maisha Magic’s telenovela ‘Kovu’. She is currently playing the role of Trisha in the Citizen TV show ‘Becky’.

Trisha Khalid Early Life

While there isn’t much disclosed about Trisha’s education and early life, she revealed in an earlier interview that she grew up in Likoni, Mombasa. She was born in 1994.

Trisha Khalid Career

Trisha Khalid is a famous social media personality with over 600k followers on Instagram. She also has a huge following on Tiktok, with one million followers. She owns an online fashion business known as Trendy Collection.

According to Trisha, she did not struggle to achieve her acting career since it just happened. Lulu Hassan approached her and offered her the opportunity to play ‘Ruby’ in the Maisha Magic show ‘Kovu’.

However, she was hesitant and actually turned it down saying that she was not an actor and that they should give it to someone else. Lulu went ahead and encouraged her and she accepted, later saying that it was the best decision.

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Trisha Khalid was later nominated to be the best Lead Actress at Kalasha Awards in 2020. In the new Citizen TV show Becky, Trisha plays the role of ‘Trisha’, Junior’s girlfriend.

She took to her Instagram saying, “Who’s ready for some drama? I’m honored to be part of this amazing project, Becky, courtesy of Jiffy Pictures, alongside other amazing talents and crew. A big thank you to my bosses Lulu Hassan and Rashid Abdalla”.

Trisha Khalid  Net Worth

Trisha Khalid’s exact net worth is not yet known. She earns most of her wealth through her acting career and business.

At least 1.500 school administrators who applied for promotion, attended interviews and were waiting for promotion letters got a rude shock this week.

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Instead of issuing them with promotion letters the teachers got regret letters.

However, TSC says 1,300 of the teachers issued with regret letters have another chance to apply for the position.

It is not clear why the Commission revoked their appointments yet they were confirmed and shortlisted after interviews in their counties and were only waiting for their posting.

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Some teachers who were acting and looking forward to be confirmed but sadly they missed out. TSC has directed the teachers to re-apply for the positions when a promotion advert is out.

It is not clear if TSC will handle the next teacher promotion issue after the education taskforce recommended the teacher promotion task to be handled by the Ministry of Education.

TSC data shows 3,359 public schools do not have head teachers.

Some 1,918 public primary schools do not have head teachers while another 1,441 secondary schools do not have principals.

Cumulatively, some 3,359 public primary and secondary schools do not have the much-needed Institutional leadership at a time when the government is rolling out critical reforms in the in the education sector.

TSC first advertised for 14.738 teacher promotions in December 2022, before cancelling the advertisement.

It then called for subsequent applications in January this year, then March and another in May after failing to attract the required number of applicants.

A good number of those who attended interviews in March in their counties were posted to schools during second school term.

TSC CEO Nancy Macharia has been faulting teachers for missing out on promotions and for their own stagnation.

She accused teachers of not being willing to apply for promotion opportunities in other counties.

“While undertaking teacher promotion, the commission faced the challenge of “promotion-based localization” in that teacher promotion is now based on the number of vacancies in a specific county,” she stated.

“Teachers are only competing for vacancies in their own counties as they cannot be “transferred” to other counties,” she told MPs when she appeared before the National Assembly Education Committee.

The TSC boss observed that early this year, the commission advertised 14,738 vacancies for the promotion of teachers to different grades to fill positions arising from exits due to natural attrition.

However, only 11.231 teachers were absorbed with 3,507 posts lacking qualified applicants. Of this,1,021 vacancies were reserved for teachers on affirmative action.

TSC advertised for the position of chief principal, principal, deputy principal, senior master, headteacher, deputy headteacher and senior teacher for both regular and special schools.