The Teachers Service Commission requires Sh82 billion to recruit teachers in the next five years.
This will enable it to address the biting teacher shortage in schools, currently estimated at about 100,000. This figure could rise to about 120,000 by 2023 unless the number and pace of teacher recruitment is increased.
On average, it will require Sh16.4 billion annually to recruit teachers. Staff shortage worsened this year with the government push for 100 percent transition of learners from primary to secondary.
Due to the shortage, schools have been forced to employ own teachers, which means additional burden on parents. In total, there are 80,000 teachers employed by school boards of management.
PROMOTIONS
Presently, TSC estimates an overall teacher shortage of 96,345 — 38,054 at the primary school and 58,291 in post-primary.
These details are contained in TSC’s new strategic plan, 2019-2023, which among others, indicates the commission’s inability to promote qualified and deserving teachers due to lack of cash.
Recruitment should start in July this year and run until the 2023/2014 financial year.
Last week, TSC told a parliamentary committee that it requires Sh27 billion for recruitment in the next three years. But that was meant to be a stopgap measure.
In an ideal situation and to guarantee quality teaching and learning, TSC requires to hire even more teachers, which is why it makes a higher financial projection.
QUALIFICATIONS
According to the plan, TSC had 317,069 teachers on its payroll as of last June in 30,892 schools.
“These include 217,291 teachers serving in 22,263 public primary schools and 99,778 teachers serving in 8,629 public post-primary institutions. The learner population served by these teachers stands at 8,071,662 in the public primary schools and 2,761,769 at the public post-primary school level,” the plan said.
The TSC says many teachers have left the service due to slow pace of promotion, aggravating the staffing crisis.
Teachers’ unions have been pushing for promotion of teachers who have acquired higher academic qualifications. Data from the commission indicates that 54,702 teachers have upgraded their education.
The commission has indicated that it will be placing newspaper adverts for competitive positions up for promotion, whose number the union puts at 20,000 in secondary schools.