Learning in public junior schools across Kenya faces potential disruption as intern teachers prepare to begin regular demonstrations over postponed permanent employment.
The protests are scheduled to take place every Tuesday, starting next week, as thousands of interns demand immediate absorption into permanent and pensionable positions.
The strike threat comes from around 20,000 junior school interns whose contracts were recently extended for another year. They will be joined in solidarity by 46,000 other junior school teachers, a move that could interrupt education for more than one million pupils across the country.
James Odhiambo, chairperson of the Kenya Junior School Teachers Association, said the protests will continue until the government acts on their demands.
“Our demand is for the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to implement the transition from internship to permanent and pensionable employment,” he said.
“We want to remind the government, the Teachers Service Commission and, most importantly, the President, to be truthful. The State must stop playing politics with education.”
Kejusta has also challenged recruitment figures often cited by President William Ruto. While the President says 72,000 teachers have been employed, the association claims only 56,000 have been fully absorbed, leaving 20,000 interns still on temporary contracts.
“He needs to be factual. Internship programmes should last one year or be discontinued altogether. Equal work deserves equal pay,” Odhiambo added. He warned that teachers’ morale is low and that the demonstrations would continue without pause.
“Every Tuesday we will take to the streets. We want the government, TSC and President Ruto to listen and act.”
President Ruto has defended the internship programme as a way to gradually absorb more than 300,000 trained but unemployed teachers.
“I want to assure every intern that after two years they will be automatically absorbed. That is the plan,” he said, explaining that the programme helps the government meet staffing needs while creating employment opportunities.
Tensions rose after the government postponed the confirmation of junior school interns to 1 January 2027, coinciding with the year of the next general election. Odhiambo said the timing caused suspicion among teachers.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said interns are required to complete two years before qualifying for permanent employment.
“President Ruto directed that interns who had completed one year be given a second-year contract, and that resources be provided in the next financial year for their confirmation on 1 January 2027,” Bitok said three days ago.
The National Treasury is expected to allocate funds for the mass confirmation in the 2026–2027 budget. Currently, junior school interns earn Sh20,000 per month before statutory deductions, a figure Kejusta says has hurt teacher motivation.
Calls for a separate union for junior school teachers are growing, but Kejusta has urged the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers to join the protests.
“We are still members of Kuppet and deserve representation from the union we fund. They must join us in this fight,” Odhiambo said, accusing the union of failing to fully defend teachers’ interests.
