Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has announced the disbursement of KSh 18.7 billion, which will be used to hire intern teachers.
The announcement comes hours after President William Ruto pledged to confirm the employment of the current 46,000 intern teachers.
Speaking during a town hall session in Kisumu on Thursday, August 29, Ruto said the intern teachers would be confirmed to permanent and pensionable terms within two months.
“We have a big shortage of teachers and we also have a big pool of trained teachers and schools that have no teachers. If I had decided to hire teachers on permanent and pensionable terms, I could only have employed 12,000 or 13,000. Instead, I chose to hire this large pool of unemployed teachers as interns, with the guarantee that after two years of internship, they will secure permanent and pensionable positions, they will now be confirmed in the next two months,” Ruto explained.Further, Ruto urged striking teachers to reconsider their decision, stating that the government had provided the necessary resources to fulfill their demands.
The head of state assured the teachers that funds have been allocated to meet the terms agreed upon in the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between them and their employer, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
Hours later, Ogamba announced that the government had released KSh 13.5 billion to implement the CBA on salary increments.
"We are committed to uplifting the standards of education and ensuring our teachers are well-compensated," said Ogamba.