The government has encountered a legal setback after the Court of Appeal confirmed that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) internship programme was unconstitutional.
The appellate bench clarified that while TSC can engage trained and registered teachers, such engagement must follow a policy that fully complies with constitutional requirements.
“Only to that extent does the appeal succeed. We uphold the declaration by the Employment and Labour Relations Court dated January 4, 2023. The subsequent internship contracts contravened the Constitution,” the judges stated.
Junior school teachers, through the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), described the ruling as groundbreaking.
“The Court of Appeal delivered a landmark ruling on our case challenging the internship programme implemented by the TSC,” said Junior School Kuppet Secretary Omari Omari. “The court held that while TSC has the legal authority to engage teachers as interns, the 2023 internship recruitment was unconstitutional as it discriminated against qualified teachers and lacked a proper legal framework.”
Omari indicated that the decision allows the union to push for compensation for the period interns served. “We shall pursue compensation on two fronts: monetary and career progression. Our teachers must be moved to the next job group since the years served under internship should be counted as years worked under TSC. As our 9,000 colleagues who were employed alongside us move to C3, all 2023 interns must also be moved to C3,” he said.
The commission had challenged the Employment and Labour Relations Court’s 2023 ruling, which declared the internship scheme illegal. The court emphasized that interns are considered employees under the Employment Act, which includes apprentices and indentured learners, meaning registered teachers cannot be hired as interns.
The judgment highlighted that interns were treated unfairly, being denied standard terms and conditions provided to entry-level TSC employees. The court noted that the commission did not show any legal authority to designate teachers as interns and stressed that TSC’s role is to employ registered teachers directly, not through an internship arrangement.
This ruling reinforces the rights of teachers and may trigger further legal proceedings to ensure those affected by the 2023 internship programme receive both fair treatment and career recognition.