Kenya’s public education system is in the middle of sweeping changes to its structure, financing, and policy, and not every group of teachers is feeling the effects the same way.
A landmark policy decision recently gave 20,000 junior school intern teachers the relief they had been waiting for: a clear path to permanent and pensionable (P&P) employment. But for another 24,000 of their colleagues, that same relief remains out of reach for now.
Because of new government-wide public sector regulations, tight budgets, and a phased recruitment structure, this larger group of interns will not be confirmed to permanent terms until January 2028.
To understand the gap between the two cohorts, it helps to look at when each group was hired and how internship rules have shifted since then.
In January 2026, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) launched a large recruitment drive aimed at closing persistent teacher shortages in junior schools created by the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). Among those hired were 24,000 teachers brought on under the internship programme.
Like the cohorts before them, these teachers stepped into classrooms full of optimism, taking on the demanding Junior Secondary School (JSS) syllabus despite earning only a modest stipend. Many assumed the same timeline that applied to earlier cohorts, a faster route to permanent employment, would apply to them too. That has not been the case.
For most of these teachers, renewing their internship contract isn’t really optional; it’s the only way to stay employed, remain in the classroom, and eventually rack up the two years of service needed to qualify for permanent terms.
But that choice comes at a cost. It means another full year on an intern’s stipend: Sh 20,000 gross a month, which shrinks to around Sh 17,000 once statutory deductions, housing levy, SHIF, and NSSF are taken out.
Meanwhile, teachers from earlier cohorts are already moving into permanent and pensionable positions, complete with full allowances, medical cover, and pension benefits.
This review looks at the policy details, budget pressures, union pushback, and operational changes shaping what comes next for the 24,000 teachers caught in this extended waiting period.
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