JSS teachers call off strike after deal with TSC

Junior Secondary School teachers have signed a return to work formula, ending their three-week strike.

The JSS teachers had downed their tools to demand permanent and pensionable employment.

Following the agreement, Kuppet said the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will employ the teachers on permanent basis in the next financial year. 

The truce, brokered by the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), will see the teachers resume classes on Monday June 3. 

Acting as mediator, Kuppen Secretary General Akello Misori said the union and the teachers' employer had agreed to withdraw all show-cause letters issued to the striking teachers. 

The union said the JSS teachers did not have a union and therefore could not "bargain collectively".

"Punishing teachers for taking part in legitimate industrial action would be counterproductive to stability in the sector," said Misori. 

Kuppet will "lobby Parliament for the allocation of Sh8.3 billion for the conversion of 26,000 trainee teachers to permanent and pensionable terms in July this year", Mr Misori said.

"The Sh8.3 billion should cater for all intern teachers hired in January 2023."

In addition, the union demanded that the Sh4.68 billion earmarked for new recruitment should be used "strictly" for permanent and pensionable employment, with further funds allocated to convert the second cohort of teachers hired in September 2023 to permanent terms. 

A quiet battle has been raging between the two main teachers' unions - Kuppet and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) - to lure the JSS teachers into their respective unions and increase their membership. 

The 39,550 teachers posted to JSS would boost the membership of any union, in addition to the monthly union dues paid by members.