Pain For Intern Teachers After House Levy Deduction
TSC intern teachers find themselves in a frustrating predicament as they grapple with deductions from their salaries. Their employer, TSC, has chosen to deduct housing fund contributions and past months’ arrears through KRA, leaving the interns with reduced pay.
This situation is all too familiar, as these intern teachers have experienced similar deductions in the past without any corresponding salary increments.
In the month of July, a deduction of sh. 360 was siphoned off for NSSF. Come August, the trend continued with 1.5% of their stipends being allocated to the housing fund.
Despite being promised a salary of sh. 15,000 and sh. 20,000 for primary and junior secondary roles respectively, the actual take-home pay dwindles to around sh. 14,000 and sh. 18,000 after all the deductions have been made.
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This month has dealt an even harsher blow, with primary intern teachers receiving just sh. 12,570, and their junior secondary counterparts receiving sh. 17,570. These figures are a far cry from the usual earnings they have grown accustomed to.
The continuous deductions risk dampening the enthusiasm of potential future interns, who might be dissuaded by the prospect of inadequate compensation that fails to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The issue of low pay has long deterred many teachers from even considering internships, driving them to seek better-paying roles under the Board of Management (BOM).
Interestingly, while permanent teachers have had their salaries adjusted, the intern teachers have been left out in the cold without any revisions to their earnings.
As part of its plans, TSC has initiated the process of assigning 20,000 newly recruited teacher interns to various schools. Among them, 18,000 will be deployed to junior secondary schools, with the remaining 2,000 earmarked for primary schools. These assignments are aimed at supporting the implementation of the new curricula.
Amidst this situation, teacher unions such as Knut, Kuppet, and Kusnet have proven ineffective in safeguarding the interns from these deductions or advocating for stipend adjustments.
In the midst of negotiations, Kuppet made a feeble attempt to secure a higher monthly pay for the intern teachers, but their efforts fell short.
Pain For Intern Teachers After House Levy Deduction
