Teachers Service Commission CEO Evaleen Mitei speaks to the media at the Ministry of Health offices in Nairobi on March 10, 2026.
The government will require at least Sh2.5 billion every month to employ 44,000 intern teachers as ordered by the Court of Appeal.
This translates to an annual requirement of Sh30 billion, money not provided in the current budget as well as the 2026/2027 Budget Policy Statement.
The 44,000 intern teachers are deployed to junior schools across the country and a few in secondary schools.
Being graduate teachers, they qualify to join the service at Job Group C2, T-Scale7 if employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). This puts their starting basic salary at Sh41,420, a commuter allowance of Sh5,000 and a house allowance of at least Sh9,600.
The house allowance varies depending on the location of the school to which a teacher is posted. Those teaching in schools in Nairobi County earn a house allowance of Sh16,500, while those in Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Nyeri, Eldoret, Kisii, Malindi, Thika and Kitale earn a house allowance of Sh12,800.
Currently, the government pays the interns a “stipend” of Sh20,000. After statutory deductions, the teachers take home Sh17,000. It is for this reason that they went to court demanding better remuneration.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has threatened to ask that TSC be cited for contempt of court if the commission does not move to convert the intern teachers to permanent and pensionable terms.
Junior Secondary School teachers hold a protest match.
The union is demanding that the TSC issues communication before the end of this month outlining how it will implement the court order.
“We will cite the TSC for contempt if these teachers are not converted immediately to permanent and pensionable terms,” Kuppet Secretary-General Akelo Misori said on Monday.
Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary-General Akelo Misori.
In a judgment issued on February 27, the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier decision by the Employment and Labour Relations Court declaring the TSC internship programme policy null and void.
Mr Misori noted that, following the judgment, the 44,000 intern teachers currently serving in schools across the country are operating in a legal vacuum.
“The TSC must comply with court directives, seek finances from the National Treasury, and seek approval and allocation from Parliament so that the said teachers do not suffer any longer,” said Mr Misori.
The commission is now caught in a dilemma over whether to terminate the contracts of the intern teachers or employ them on permanent terms.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Education last week, senior TSC officials said the commission is seeking a grace period to comply with the judgment, citing its far-reaching implications.
Yesterday, the commission said that it is properly seized of the matter and is giving it due attention.
“The commission has subjected this weighty matter to thorough internal consultation aimed at arriving at a decision that is participatory, lawful and fiscally sustainable,” said TSC acting Chief Executive Officer Evaleen Mitei.
She added that while the commission had noted the sentiments of the union, the issue is extremely complex and requires elaborate policy and fiscal considerations within the larger government.
“In the meantime, we request parties to exercise restraint as the commission finalises internal consultations on the matter. Once complete, the commission will issue the necessary directions to facilitate seamless implementation of the court order,” she said.
The latest cohort of 24,000 intern teachers, most of whom were posted to junior schools, was engaged in January this year, surpassing the TSC’s initial target of 20,000.
The January recruitment largely focused on hiring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) teachers as the government sought to address an acute shortage of technical teachers in junior schools.
Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers National Chairman Omboko Milemba at a past event.
Kuppet chairman Omboko Milemba said that going forward, the government should not engage teachers as interns because it provides a loophole for them to be exploited.
He noted that intern teachers earn Sh17,000 despite performing the same duties as other teachers, yet they lack medical cover, even though the law requires employers to provide healthcare benefits to their employees.
“We have gone through the court process, we have finished and never again shall we allow the issue of intern teachers because it is a platform to punish teachers,” he said.
Mr Milemba, who is also the Emuhaya MP, said that to avert further problems, TSC should urgently move to employ the 44,000 interns on permanent and pensionable terms and compensate them appropriately.
TSC has been under pressure to confirm the intern teachers into permanent and pensionable terms, but it has insisted it can only do so if it receives the necessary budgetary allocation.
Parliament, which is currently on a short recess, is set to resume sittings on Tuesday next week, with the Supplementary Budget 1 at the top of its agenda. Mr Milemba urged the legislators to factor in an allocation for the intern teachers.
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