Education to be hit hard by fall of tax bill

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu. [File, Standard] The fate of the employment of 46,000 intern teachers now hangs in the balance after President William Ruto withdrew the controversial Finance Bill 2024 The Bill was projected to raise extra revenue to fill the deficit in this year's Sh4 trillion budget. Part of the money was to support education programmes, including the employment of intern teachers. The education sector being the biggest beneficiary of the budget could be hit hard as a result, with a series of programmes funded by the government in primary and secondary schools, universities, colleges and technical institutions left in limbo. The sector got the lion's share of Sh600 billion in funding in the 2024/2025 financial year. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the teacher employer, was to get Sh354 billion. The funds were for, among other functions, the hiring of intern teachers and confirmation of those who have been serving as interns to permanent and pensionable terms. A Parliamentary Group meeting on June 18 heard that the TSC would get Sh18 billion for hiring intern teachers. "The PG was also informed that adequate funds - Sh18 billion - have been provided for the employment of all 46,000 Junior Secondary teachers who are on internship," National Assembly Finance Committee Chair Kimani Kuria said. TSC is also expected to hire 20,000 interns beginning next month to curb the shortage of teachers. "The funds have also been provided to hire 20,000 interns next month. The policy is now to transition teachers from internship to permanent and pensionable terms," he added. On Wednesday, Dr Ruto said some government programmes would be scaled down and others postponed to the next financial year. The ripple effects could largely affect the conversion of the 46,000 interns to permanent and pensionable terms. Last month, intern teachers signed a return-to-work formula to end their three-week strike. The teachers who were demanding employment on permanent and pensionable terms agreed with TSC that they would be absorbed in the next financial year. Intern teachers pressure group chairman Omari Omari on Thursday said the teachers anticipate the absorption set for next month to proceed as agreed. "The allocation has already been made and we still expect that in July, we will be employed on permanent terms," he said. The free day secondary education programme has been the most affected with the funding for each student slashed by Sh5,000.

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