Conditions are tough for newly recruited and posted junior secondary school teachers especially for those working in remote schools.
This comes at a time when the junior secondary school section is struggling to take off with learning not even started in some schools.
With scarcity of water, bad roads, poor rental houses, poor quality food, poor infrastructure and dilapidated classrooms lacking even basic facilities like desks life is taking toll for these teachers.
Things are not rosy for both permanent and intern junior secondary school teachers some who left coveted schools located in big towns and cities.
Many secondary schools are usually located in places with good social facilities and infrastructure. Even those in remote areas of the country are normally found in areas considered as towns and developed.
These areas usually have good rental houses, market places with enough shops, hospitals and dispensaries, police stations or posts, water and other social amenities.
However this is different for primary schools where most junior secondary schools are domiciled.
Now these teachers are reporting to pathetic schools which are classified as junior secondary schools.
Though there are primary school teachers who are used to and are working in these schools, its not easy for the graduate teachers who mostly are not used to working in such conditions.
In fact some of them have refused to report to such schools demanding to be posted in better schools while others have abandoned the opportunities and returned to their former schools where they worked as BOM teachers.
However some have chosen to adapt to their present situation and start working looking forward for better days and prosperity.
To mitigate the problems the teachers face TSC can better salaries especially for the intern teachers working in hardship areas.
TSC said that all the 30,550 newly employed teachers had reported to their respective junior secondary schools for the first term.
In the December 2022 advert for mass recruitment, the Commission announced 9,000 teaching posts for junior secondary on permanent and pensionable terms and 21,550 others on internship.
TSC also plans to deploy 7,282 primary school teachers from next week to help in teaching junior secondary school learners.
The Commission plans to train all junior secondary school teachers from this month upto the month of April.
TSC chief executive officer Nancy Macharia said the teachers who were trained in April last year on the junior secondary school curriculum will be used to retool the newly hired teachers.
“We target to train 90,000 teachers between January and April,” Macharia said.
Director of Human Resource Management and Development at TSC Julius Olayo said retooling the teachers is to ensure they meet expected standards to effectively deliver their mandate.
Olayo said TSC had so far trained 229,000 primary school teachers and 60,000 secondary school teachers on the Competency-Based Curriculum.
“Additionally, all field officers and curriculum support officers have been trained on CBC to understand the curriculum and be able to give instructional support during the implementation of the curriculum,” Olayo said.
The target group for the training will be all the teachers handling grades 7, 8 and 9 from both regular and SNE schools.
The Commission targets to train teachers on Languages, Pure Sciences, Applied Sciences, Mathematics, Humanities and Technical subjects.
The training of Grade 7 teachers will involve these subjects and areas offered in junior secondary school section.
i. Languages – English, Kiswahili, Foreign and Indigenous Languages and Kenya Sign Language.
ii. Pure Sciences -Integrated Science Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Health Education.
iii. Applied Sciences – Agriculture, Home science and computer studies
iv. Mathematics.
iv. Humanities – Social Studies (Citizenship, Geography, History) Religious Studies, (CRE, IRE, Hindu, HRE and PPI) and live skills.
v. Technical subjects and Creative Arts – Pre vocational and pre career Business studies, music, sports and physical education Home science.
LEARNING AREAS CLUSTERS FOR JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
1. LANGUAGES
Teachers trained and qualified to teach languages (English/Kiswahili/Foreign/Indigenous) will be called upon teach the learning areas shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Learning Areas for Teachers Trained for Language Subjects (English/Kiswahili/Foreign/Indigenous)
| S/No: | Learning Areas | Remarks | No. of Lessons per Week |
| 1. | English | compulsory | 5 |
| 2. | Kiswahili/KSL (for learners who are deaf) | compulsory | 4 |
| 3. | Life Skills Education | compulsory | 1 |
| 4. | Physical Education and Sports | compulsory | 2 |
| 5. | Foreign Language/Indigenous | compulsory | 3 |
| 6. | Social studies (Citizenship, Geography & History) | compulsory | 3 |
| 7. | Virtual Arts/Performing Arts | compulsory | 3 |
| Total | 21 |
2. MATHEMATICS
Teachers trained and qualified to teach mathematics will be called upon teach the learning areas shown in Table 1 below.
Table 2: Learning Areas for Teachers Trained for Mathematics
| S/No: | Learning Areas | Remarks | No. of Lessons per Week |
| 1. | Mathematics | compulsory | 5 |
| 2. | Integrated Science | compulsory | 4 |
| 3. | Life Skills Education | compulsory | 1 |
| 4. | Physical Education and Sports | compulsory | 2 |
| 5. | Virtual Arts | compulsory | 3 |
| 6. | Business Studies/Computer Studies | compulsory | 3 |
| 7. | Pre-technical studies | compulsory | 5 |
| 8. | Total | 23 |
3. SCIENCE
Teachers trained and qualified to teach Science (Biology, Chemistry & Physics) will be called up to teach the learning areas shown in Table 1 below.
Table 3: Learning Areas for Teachers Trained for Science Subjects (Biology, Chemistry & Physics)
| S/No: | Learning Areas | Remarks | No. of Lessons per Week |
| 1. | Mathematics | compulsory | 5 |
| 2. | Integrated Science | compulsory | 4 |
| 3. | Health Education | compulsory | 2 |
| 4. | Life Skills Education | compulsory | 1 |
| 5. | Physical Education and Sports | compulsory | 2 |
| 6. | Pre-Technical Studies | compulsory | 5 |
| 7. | Business Studies/Agriculture/Home Science/Computer Studies | compulsory | 3 |
| Total | 22 |
4. TECHNICAL
Teachers trained and qualified to teach Technical will be called upon to teach the learning areas shown in Table 1 below.
Table 4: Learning Areas for Teachers Trained for Technical Subjects
| S/No: | Learning Areas | Remarks | No. of Lessons per Week |
| 1. | Mathematics | compulsory | 5 |
| 2. | Integrated Science | compulsory | 4 |
| 3. | Health Education | compulsory | 2 |
| 4. | Life Skills Education | compulsory | 1 |
| 5. | Physical Education and Sports | compulsory | 2 |
| 6. | Pre-Technical Studies | compulsory | 5 |
| 7. | Business Studies/Agriculture/Home Science/Computer Studies | compulsory | 3 |
| Total | 22 |
5. HUMANITIES
Teachers trained and qualified to teach Humanities will be called upon teach the learning areas shown in Table 1 below.
Table 5: Learning Areas for Teachers Trained for Humanities (History, Geography and Religious Studies)
| S/No: | Learning Areas | Remarks | No. of Lessons per Week |
| 1. | Social Studies (Citizenship, Geography & History) | compulsory | 3 |
| 2. | English/Kiswahili/KSL | compulsory | 5 |
| 3. | Religious Education (CRE/IRE/HRE) | compulsory | 2 |
| 4. | Health Education | compulsory | 2 |
| 5. | Life Skills Education | compulsory | 1 |
| 6. | Physical Education and Sports | compulsory | 2 |
| 7. | Indigenous Language | compulsory | 3 |
| 8. | Visual Arts/Performing Arts | compulsory | 3 |
| Total | 21 |