The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) urgently requires some Sh4 billion to replace about 8,000 teachers set to retire in two months.
TSC report reveals that the teachers will no longer be on the payroll after December 31, upon attaining the mandatory retirement age.
This means that the teachers’ employer will require more resources in addition to the Sh2.5 billion presently being used to hire new teachers across the country.
TSC is hiring some 11,574 teachers. Of these are 5,000 new staff to help with the 100 per cent transition under the Sh2.5 billion budget.
The remaining 6,574 are being employed to replace those who exited teaching service due to natural attrition.
Nancy Macharia, the TSC chief executive said the teachers being employed now will report in January.
There are also fears that with the Covid-19, teachers who fall in the high-risk ages of 55 years and above, may require special management, with some expected to exit teaching.
Data from teachers’ unions show that there are some 50,000 teachers who fall under this delicate age bracket, and some may opt for early retirement.
And with 8,000 teachers exiting the teaching service by December, it means that the government must act fast to to avert a crisis.
The exit of more teachers is likely to trigger a crisis in schools at a time when classrooms are being increased to allow for social distancing protocol under Covid-19.
Their retirement also means that some schools may miss crucial teachers expected to prepare candidates for national examinations scheduled for March, next year.
According to schools re-opening schedule, the 2020 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidates will sit exams from March 22, 2021.
The three-day examinations will end on March 24, just a day to the start of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams that will last three weeks and three days. Marking of the two national exams will be done between April 19 and May 7.
Sources at TSC said 5,000 new teachers being hired now is a drop in the ocean compared to 103,481 teachers needed to plug the deficit.
TSC had projected to employ some 40,000 intern teachers at a cost of Sh4.8 billion and another 25,000 new permanent and pensionable teachers at a cost of Sh15.4 billion.
The projections by TSC, however, seem to show that teachers’ numbers are still low and the workload is huge due to the massive enrolments in primary and secondary schools.
Presently, there is a pool of about 312,563 trained teachers yet to be employed.
Appearing before the Senate Education Committee recently, Dr Macharia said TSC has consistently requested for increased budgetary provisions to employ 20,000 teachers annually.
“… and this has not borne fruit,” Dr Macharia told senators.
The legislators heard that in 2018, TSC projected to employ 12,626 teachers annually for the next four years.
“To this end, we requested additional funds of Sh5 billion. However, the same was not honoured,” Dr Macharia said.
And with the expected expansion of classrooms after the coronavirus pandemic, more teachers will be required, which means that replacements of exiting teachers is urgent.
Presently, there are 337,432 teachers under TSC payroll for all the public primary and secondary schools.
This Kenya is not Fair some of us are trained teachers from humble background , we used all our parents resources and will are still tarmacing unemployed
Ok our hope TSC will address the huge unemployment rate among teachers especially because many schools are in serious need of them
This request does not add up. When one exits, the resultant pay amount remains redundant in the kitty.
TSC should seriously act on the employment of teachers. The life trained teachers are facing out is alarming.
So far the best information App as far the Teachers/Head of Institutions are concerned, very resourceful and rich. I’m proud to be one among many.
Good to be a member
stupidy of highest order what are they doing about it . they are instead asking for bribes even from us.
What is funny: the government only recognises the deficit of teachers but can’t employ enough.
Hope all shall be well but one thing tsc head office should be Keen on is on corruption at the subcounty level. How on Earth can one have funds to bribe somebody so that he or she can be employed.
We trained teachers are facing hell after investing all in education: stayed out for 10 years is really tormenting.
What is the tsc planing with the interns who may have failed to secure chances since the ancestors emerged from their slumber.. Would they really be considered during the replacement??
Doubting: but tsc should be fare enough and obsorb the interns….I know many who missed tsc jobs.
Actually so many interns were left out during last recruit. Tsc need to do something about it and remember schools recruited interns in slots they were having a deficit but tsc went a head and a advertised different slots in the same schools which creates a crisis again in the same slots after internship. Think about it tsc
Tsc to go with speed to recruit more teachers quiet a number are jobless
Tsc should do something to Diploma teachers and revise their scores to the previous. Where distinction had 30,credit 25 and pass 20.
You can image a 2018 B.ed gratuate getting a job in an interview ehere a 2015 diploma teacher is present and cannot compete.
I’m shocked to learn that bribes were asked during last week’s recruitment. In my sub county of Nyando,no bribe cases were reported.
Interns should be absorbed in school schools they were without being subjected to interview again. Schools that had interns lost teachers in subjects they had shortage. That did not help.
Still waiting for Tsc to employ us hopefully
The immediate concluded recruitment process was not professionally conducted as candidates incurred unnecessary transportation expenses and still failed to secure the slots.
What are the plans for B.O.M teachers in primary schools?
Hopefully in the next recruitment we won’t see 10marks for internship… internship should not be forced on teachers
Comment Text*government should stop training teachers coz so many graduates are just struggling for their lives without jobs.
Please may The Good Lord see through those intern teachers who didn’t get jobs I being one of them, through you people (TSC).