JSS
Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) teachers in Machakos county have downed their tools since schools reopened for second term and vowed not to resume teaching until the government addresses their grievances. The intern teachers on Monday took to the streets to protest the failure by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to hire them on permanent and pensionable terms.
Peter Muema, a JSS teacher said it was discriminatory for the government to employ them as interns on a contractual basis yet they possess the same qualifications with their counterparts benefitting from permanent employment. Muema called on the government to reconsider the terms of employment for the JSS teachers and compensate them for the period they have served as interns.
“We are asking the government to employ us on permanent basis and give us a pay that is commensurate with our qualifications,” he said. The teacher pleaded with the government not to turn a deaf ear on their plight to avert a crisis in the JSS program.
JSS teachers protest in Machakos town against their employment on contract terms on Monday
“Let the government listen to our pleas so that we can go back to work because our role in the education sector is very key,” said Muema. Meshack Nzaku, also a JSS teacher said the strike will continue until the government agrees to remunerate them appropriately.
“This is our ninth day and there is no retreat until our demands are met,” Nzaku averred. Some parents who joined the JSS teachers in the protest expressed their displeasure at how the government was handling the issue and declared their support for the teachers.
“As parents we are worried that the government does not seem to give the issue of JSS teachers the proper attention it deserves,” said Kennedy Mbuvi a parent. Mbuvi said the JSS students have been left unattended since the beginning of the term and asked the government and the teachers to come to the negotiating table and agree on a return-to-work formula.
John Mutua said the strike had put the education of the JSS students in limbo and asked the government to address the demands of the teachers to allow learning to resume. “I’m really worried about this JSS. This is a pioneer class and we should not actually be gambling with the future of our children,” reiterated Mutua.
