Pressure Mounts on Government to Hire All 44,000 JSS Intern Teachers
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro is ratcheting up the pressure on the government to right away make all 44,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers that are currently in intern posts into permanent & pensionable jobs – arguing that if we can’t stabilise & motivate our teaching workforce then the future of Kenya’s education system is on shaky ground.
In a Facebook type posting on June 4, 2026, Nyoro pretty much said the country can’t just sit around and put off dealing with the concerns of thousands of teachers who are currently working under short term contracts.
“We need to get confirmation for all the 44,000 of our brothers and sisters who are serving as interns in JSS on the table, no time to lose. We need to put education top of the agenda for the nation.”
This comes at a time when the debate over the employment status of JSS teachers is ongoing, with people who know a thing or two about education warning that the staffing problems could cause some major headaches for the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Nyoro Repeats Call for Permanent and Pensionable Terms
This isn’t the first time Nyoro has been pushing for the government to absorb those intern teachers into permanent jobs.
He’s been asking why it’s taking so long to sort out the promises made to JSS teachers – including in December 2025 when he spoke out against the holdups in implementing plans to give those intern teachers the permanent & pensionable jobs they’ve been waiting for.
Speaking in church in Kiharu, Nyoro said he is worried about some pretty dodgy suggestions that we should just extend the internship deals rather than giving the teachers some form of job security. He’s urging the government to think outside the box when it comes to funding and get those teachers absorbed as quickly as possible without further delay.
He mentioned that maybe the government could use the bit of the Constitution that lets them make some pretty urgent expenditure even before the Parliament gives the go-ahead – Article 223.
Teachers Continue to Face Financial Uncertainty
For many JSS teachers who are still in intern positions, the wait for a permanent job is a major headache.
Nyoro pointed out that despite doing the same work as other teachers in the classroom, many of the interns are still on temporary contracts that don’t give them much financial security at all.
This has caused a fair amount of frustration among those teachers who are on the front line delivering lessons under the CBC in junior secondary schools all over the country.
KUPPET Strike Threat Increased Pressure
The push for teacher confirmation got a fair bit of momentum in April 2026 when the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) gave a nationwide notice that they would be taking industrial action over the status of JSS intern teachers.
Union officials from the likes of Machakos, Tharaka Nithi and West Pokot counties were demanding the Teachers Service Commission convert those temporary contracts into permanent & pensionable jobs.
They’d already got a High Court ruling that said the internship arrangement was actually against the law.
KUPPET also said that in addition to a permanent job, they wanted to see intern teachers get better medical cover and a bit more independence for the administrative side of things in junior secondary schools.
The union’s stance is that the intern teachers are doing the same job as the teachers they’re replacing and so should have the same employment rights – pensions, benefits and all the rest.
CBC Rollout Fuels Demand for More Teachers
As the CBC rollout gets bigger and wider across the country, the need for qualified teachers is getting more and more desperate.
JSS intern teachers have been lifesavers in the classroom during this transition period, they really are a vital part of the education system.
Although the government said they were going to take in some of the intern teachers a while back, the education crowd is saying that’s not enough and a much bigger solution is needed to take care of all the ones currently stuck in internship arrangements.
Calls for Long-Term Solution Grow Louder
The government and the Teachers Service Commission are both coming under pressure to give a clear answer about what the future holds for JSS intern teachers.
Politicians, teachers unions and the advocates for education are all shouting from the rooftops that keeping teachers on a stable footing is the best way to keep the schools running smoothly and make sure the CBC reforms actually work.
Nyoro reckons that spending on teachers is what’s going to get the country ahead in the long run, and he’s warning that putting off deciding what to do with the interns will have a knock on effect that’ll impact the quality and flow of learning in the junior secondary schools.
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Pressure Mounts on Government to Hire All 44,000 JSS Intern Teachers
