The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has turned to primary school teachers to address teacher shortages bedeviling junior schools.
The Commission has for the past two weeks embarked on deploying qualified P1 teachers to junior schools within or near their current stations.
TSC Sub County Directors are under instructions to continue deployment of PTE teachers who qualify to teach in secondary schools.
A significant number of primary school teachers have been issued with deployment letters immediately their documents were verified by the Directors.
Currently junior schools are facing a shortage of close to 50,000 teachers. TSC has been deploying P1 teachers to secondary schools since 2019.
However the deployment exercise intensified after inception of junior schools which increased teacher demand.
Last year alone a total of 1,436 primary school teachers were vetted and deployed to teach Grade 7, 8 and 9 classes.
Though TSC targeted 6,000 teachers, only 3,178 P1 teachers applied and majority of them still lacked the academic requirements for deployment to junior schools.
According to TSC a P1 teacher wishing to be deployed must have a minimum of a Diploma in Education with a minimum of C+ at KCSE with C+ in two teaching subjects.
TSC has previously said there are excess of around 18,000 teachers in primary schools created by the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
The Commission has left the deployment window open since last year for qualified PTE teachers to apply online and get deployed at the TSC Sub County offices.
TSC also abandoned its earlier plans to upgrade P1 teachers, through a World Bank sponsored programme, and deploy them to teach in junior schools.
The Commission retracted the move after it abandoned the Comprehensive school model to give junior schools autonomy.
The deployment drive come shortly after the Commission was dealt a blow by the Court of Appeal which declared TSC internship programme illegal.
The court had declared the TSC internship programme null and void, terming the programme discriminatory.
According to the judge, only trainee teachers can be on internship. However it will be discriminating to put full trained and registered teachers in such a programme.
The ruling strikes the heart of a programme introduced to plug teacher shortages arising from the rollout of the CBC which created demand for additional teachers in junior schools.
Following the ruling TSC has suspended plans to recruit 16,000 junior school intern teachers this year as it seek clarity on the matter.
The ruling also put uncertainty on fate of 44,000 junior school teachers currently working on internship terms.
An intern teacher attached to junior school earns sh 20,000 stipend monthly but gets sh 18,000 net after NSSF, SHA and House levy deductions.
TSC Acting CEO, Eveleen Mitei, issued the following guidelines for deployment of primary school teachers to junior schools.
DEPLOYMENT OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TO JUNIOR SCHOOLS
a) Qualifications
Primary School teachers wishing to be deployed to Junior Schools must be qualified to teach in secondary schools.
The teacher MUST meet the following requirements;
i) Have an active registration as a teacher
ii) Is employed as a primary school teacher currently serving with the Commission
iii) Should not be currently under interdiction or undergoing a disciplinary process
iv) Have a minimum of a Diploma in Education with a minimum of C+ at KCSE (or its equivalent) with C+ in two teaching subjects currently being offered in the school curriculum (either under 8-4-4 or CBC) or two (2) principles and one (1) subsidiary pass at “A” Level.
Those with a minimum of C (plain) at KCSE (or its equivalent) and have undertaken a Diploma in Education together with a Bachelor Degree in Education also qualify.
Further teachers with a Mean Grade C (plain) but undertook a Pre-University bridging course before 31st December, 2015 and have C+ or above in the two teaching subjects are also eligible.
v) Bachelor of Education (Primary Option) holders are not eligible
vi) Must have expressed interest to be deployed to Junior School and their name appears on the list attached hereto
b) Vetting
Sub County Directors should ensure copies of the following documents of the applicants are made from original and certified after further verification:
i) Original and copy of the degree/diploma certificate
ii) Original and copies of the academic transcripts
iii) Original and copy of SNE qualification (where applicable)
iv) Original and copy of the KCSE certificate (or its equivalent)
v) A copy of the current payslip
vi) A declaration by the Head of Institution that the teacher is currently serving in the school and is neither serving an interdiction nor undergoing a disciplinary process
c) Deployment
Deployment letters will be signed by the Sub County Directors for teachers within the Sub County.
For teachers who may be deployed outside the Sub County, letters will be signed by the County Directors/ Regional Director – Nairobi.
Consideration should be given to the following;
i) Proximity to the current station: As much as possible, the teachers should be deployed and retained in their current stations or those that are close to their current stations
ii) Subject Combination of the teacher: Unless a station requires more than one teacher of the same subject combination, Sub County Directors should not deploy teachers of similar subject combinations with those already posted to JS.
iii) Gender of the teacher: Endeavor to balance the gender of teachers posted to the same station
iv) Teachers with SNE qualification should be posted to Special Junior School
v) Deployment will be done using the templates shared. It is important to study the templates and where necessary seek clarification.
The Sub County Director shall sign two deployment/ Appointment letters for each teacher.
One letter shall be issued to the teacher while the second original letter shall be submitted together with other deployment documents for filling at the headquarters
As you conduct the deployment exercise, note the following
a) Teachers at Grades B5 and C1 who hold a Bachelors degree will be issued with Appointment Letters to Grade C2
b) Teachers at Grade B5 who hold a Diploma in Education will be issued with Appointment Letters to Grade C1
c) Teachers at Grade C2 who hold a Bachelors degree and were promoted on or before 31st August, 2022 will be issued with Appointment Letters for Grade C3
d) Teachers at Grade C1 who hold a Diploma certificate and were promoted on or before 31st August, 2022 will be issued with Appointment Letters to Grade C2
e) Teachers at Grade C1 who hold a Diploma certificate and have not completed three or more years will be issued with deployment letters.
Additionally, teachers who hold a Diploma certificate and at Grade C2 and above will be issued with deployment letters
f) Teachers at Grade C3 and above who hold a Bachelors degree will be issued with deployment letters
d) Posting, Entry/Exit Reports Module
i) Immediately the teachers are deployed to JS, the County Directors shall initiate posting on the Posting, Entry/Exit Reports Module to the Sub County. The Sub County Director shall post the teachers to JS.
ii) The Heads of Institution releasing the teachers must immediately exit them through the submission of Exit Reports to enable the receiving Head of Institution to submit the Entry Reports.
iii) All these processes must be conducted online through the Posting, Entry/Exit Reports Module as the Commission no longer recognizes nor process hard copy casualties.
iv) Where the teacher is retained in the same station, the Head of Institution shall exit the teacher from primary school and submit Entry Reports for the JS.
e) Submission of Deployment and Appointment Documents to the Headquarters
After the conclusion of the deployment exercise, the following documents shall be submitted to the Director Staffing by County Directors/Regional Director – Nairobi:
a) Certified copy of the degree/ diploma certificate
b) Certified copy of the academic transcrpts
c) Certified copy of the KCSE certificate or its equivalent
d) Original copy of the Deployment letter generated as per the template issued
e) A declaration by the Head of Institution that the teacher is currently serving in the school and is neither serving an interdiction nor undergoing a disciplinary process.
f) List of deployed teachers clearly showing teachers details in the order presented below should be submitted in MS Excel editable format to Director Staffing through dirstaffing@tsc.go.ke
The roadmap for undertaking this exercise is provided in Appendix VI
E. J. MITEI (MS)
AG. COMMISSION SECRETARY/CEO