John S. Khabamba

Calls are growing for Teachers Service Commission to reinstate the sacked JSS interns. Already Kuppet has petitioned TSC to rescind its decision to axe over 700 teachers, the Ministry Of Education has also dived  into the matter.  Kakamega Governor, Fernandes Barasa is the latest figure to add their voice to the impasse. TSC headquarters in Nairobi. Photo by The Standard.  Speaking during a KNUT function in Mumias, the first time Governor  urged TSC to recall the termination letters issued to the tutors for apparently missing duty without satisfactory reasons.  "On behalf of the Council of Governers, we demand the reinstatement of the sacked teachers because it's their right to picket." The governor said in part.  TSC wrote to over ten thousand teachers demanding an explanation as to why they missed duty during the first week of opening. Of the number, over nine thousand responded to the show cause letters within the procedural two weeks. According to the e...

 Teacher Service Commission has continued to show more  JSS interns the exit door despite the castigation. Last week, TSC made the bold decision discontinue the services of over 700 interns nationwide for professional misconduct and it seems they are not yet done. Today ten more teachers had their services terminated in Kisii County Photo courtesy.  JSS teachers, emboldened by the labor court decision to declare the controversial internship program illegal, staged nationwide demos demanding employment on Permanent and Pensionable terms. The seemingly well organized industrial action was sustained for nearly three weeks sending shock waves to the TSC offices.  Two weeks later, a section of JSS lobby group 'ended' it and called on teachers to return to work without qualms of possible victimization. This was after 'signing' a Return to Work Formula brokered by KUPPET. One of the consensus was non-victimization of the those who missed school ostensibly due to their parti...

 Court of Appeal has poured cold water on the hopes of thousands of JSS interns who were inching closer to Permanent and Pensionable employment. On Monday the appellate court suspended the Employment and Labour Relations Court Order which had declared internship program illegal. The suspension effectively sustains legality of the teacher internship program until the case is heard and determined. TSC is also under no obligation to convert the currently engaged intern teachers to PnP and is at liberty to engage more in the meantime.  Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru via Daily Nation Earlier last month, High Court Justice Byram Ongaya, in his ruling pointed out that the Teacher Service Commission was overstepping their mandate by engaging interns without proper structural and legal backing. He directed the TSC  to compensate the tutors for time they had served under the program and confirm them into PnP unless they get  contrary orders from a superior bench. Dissatisfied with...

Whenever the media is invited for a Presidential Presser you know headline pronouncements are in the offing and those headlines are often with far reaching repurcussions. In the run-up to the  address the fourth estate and Kenyans alike speculate on what might the content of the presser. Well, they are not always off the mark because the addresses are always a culmination of   ubiquitous event (s) of national concern or should I say of heavy political consequence. The latest one called on 3rd May  was no different. Apart from tragically ending lives of hapless Kenyans, the devastating downpour has left the country in a turmoil as the the frail infrastructural establishments are being swept away by the raging waters which have stopped at nothing in ravaging down  all corners of the nation. The raging floods have plunged the country into a  serious humanitarian crisis last seen in the Covid-19 era where lives became couldn't be more fragile. Such predicaments...

If CBC was my nemesis, I will be spoilt for choices to attack. There are  infinite fronts of which I can dismantle, deconstruct and debunk some of the supposed basis of it's roll out. These article will strictly be objective. Before we delve deeper, it's essential to start we the basics.  Let's roll back and see how we got here.  Photo credit:Cardinal Education Network  The Competency Based Curriculum dubbed CBC (2-6-3-3) was rolled out in 2017 to replace the 8-4-4 system which has been in the existence since 1985. The curriculum framework encompasses 2 years in pre-primary, 6 years in primary, 3 years in junior school and finally 3 years in senior school. As of today, the pioneer cohort is already in Junior School. The pretext for the departure from the 'exam oriented' 8-4-4 system was to 'combat' the unemployment crisis which has been heavily linked with the former curriculum. The mantra that CBC will significantly reduce joblessness is hoax; an escapist n...

A section of senior interns have have been shocked after TSC left them out of January pay! The commission paid teachers in 23rd but some interns did not receive their stipend as usual leaving them with questions as to what may have transpired. " I was expecting the stipend to hit my  account as normal but I was dumb-founded when I found empty offers every time I checked the account balance," lamented one teacher who sought anonymity. The affected interns who claimed to have reported procedurely to their stations feel the commission is adding salt to injury with its latest move.  " Despite not being comfortable working with the meager pay  for second year running, I decided to renew the contract," added the disgruntled teacher.  "Am now wondering how I ended up missing out while colleagues got theirs, he sadly noted.  Senior interns were fiercely agitating for confirmation to PnP terms but the commission stood firm with their earlier pronouncement which declared...

In politics, there exists a thin line between facts and fiction, truth and lies, real and artificial, right and wrong . Infact the definitions of the aforementioned terms are extremely relative. It depends who is asking who. Politicians have mastered the art of verbal charm in wooing the electorate. In the run-up to any political duel, aspirants chiefly employ verbal tact. Indeed they say successful seduction depends on the effectiveness of the verbal allure.  For the Kenyan electorate, politicians always have a field day during the campaign trails. They freely stretch the truth-which of course erode their validity - and add more questionable statements in form of promises which the citizenry sieze as the gospel truth. Apart from the intentional image obliteration of the opponents, the promise card is always at the center of political show downs. It's no coincidence that most successful politicians also happen to be excellent orators - a case in point is the current president. Ke...