Lowering retirement age not the answer to youth unemployment

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Parliament is considering reducing the mandatory retirement age of public servants, including teachers, from the current 60 years to 55 to give young people an opportunity to be employed in public service in Kenya. The National Assembly's Labour Committee announced on August 3, 2023 that it will introduce an amendment to the proposed legislation capping the retirement age at 55.

The Bill also seeks to amend the current Act by requiring that no officer serves in an acting capacity for more than six months. In the teaching service, there has been an outcry over the commission appointing teachers to act in administrative positions without substantively confirming them for more than two years. Amending this particular clause would be a blessing to the teaching fraternity.