Public primary school teachers are attending junior secondary school lessons even without being deployed by Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
This according to the teachers is to help address the severe teacher shortage as well as help the unattended learners.
In some counties like Kwale, Siaya, Kiambu, Vihiga and Meru, the TSC County Directors of Education asked the primary school headteachers to use the available to ensure is going on in junior secondary section.
Some headteachers who are also acting Principals in junior secondary schools allocated subjects for P1 teachers to teach in Grade 7.
Ministry of Education stated that students in Junior Secondary Schools will take up to twelve subjects, this is an increase of six more as compared to the 8-4-4 system.
The grade seven learners, who are the first cohort on the new curriculum, will have an option of choosing two other subjects aside from the compulsory twelve.
The 12 subjects are; English, mathematics, pre-technical studies, Kiswahili, Integrated Science, Social Studies and Business Studies.
Others are Agriculture, Religious Education (IRE, HRE, CRE), Health Education, Sports and Physical education, and life skills.
TSC recruited 30,550 teachers for junior secondary but it needs at least 61,000 for the same. TSC CEO Dr Nancy Macharia said they will deploy primary school teachers to help close the gap.
“While the teacher establishment for Grade Seven level is 61,000 (at least two teachers per class), the commission had recruited 30,550 teachers (one teacher per class), bringing the teacher shortage at Grade Seven to 30,550.” said Macharia.
Knut already warned primary school teachers against teaching in junior secondary school without being officially deployed by TSC.
Knut secretary general, Collins Oyuu, also asked TSC to promote P1 teachers to teach in junior secondary unconditionally.
Addressing the press in Kisumu, Oyuu stated that some of the P1 teachers have upgraded to Diploma courses and higher Diplomas and can teach grade 7. He added that some of the teachers have Degrees and shouldn’t be sidelined.
“Why do we want to use academic stratification to deny teachers who have worked hard and upgraded their skills through advanced learning, why?’’ he posed
Last week Macharia revealed that the Commission plans to promote a total of 36,829 teachers from Monday.
Of these 10,833 are primary school teachers who will be promoted through deployment to teach in junior secondary school.
She said the promotions will be effected from Monday since the identified candidates have met the requisite qualifications for deployment.
While appearing before the National Assembly’s Education Committee chaired by Hon Julius Melly (Tinderet), Macharia told MPs that TSC was currently mapping the teachers after they applied for promotion through its online platform.
“The mapping process of primary school teachers eligible to teach in junior secondary schools is a continuous process and verification of the mapped files is still ongoing to identify more teachers eligible to be posted to junior secondary schools,” she told legislators.
However Macharia who was accompanied by TSC Chairperson Jamleck Muturi and other commissioners, says so far they have identified 7,282 teachers for deployment.
“The country needs to know if there are any plans to promote teachers currently teaching in primary schools and deploy them to Junior Secondary Schools. And if yes, what is the number of tutors that will be elevated ?” posed the Committee Chairperson.
“TSC has through the verification of personal files; identified 7,282 primary school teachers with requisite qualifications to teach in secondary schools as eligible for deployment to Junior Secondary Schools,” responded Ms Macharia.
According to the commission, qualification for deployment to JSS include a Diploma in Education, Bachelor’s degree in Education, at least a C+(Plus) mean grade in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KSCE) examination or its equivalent and at least C+ (Plus) in the two teaching subjects at KCSE or its equivalent.
At university, one must have studied at least eight units in each of the two teaching subjects.
P1 teachers with Degree will move at job grade C2 while those with Diploma will move at job grade C1. The teachers will move to next job group automatically after completing three years.
Macharia said the teachers will help reduce the teaching load currently causing headache in public junior secondary schools.
Let TSC be quick to deploy qualified p1 teachers because it’s unfair to be having qualified teachers who have been in the field and having experience in CBC teaching with those secondary teachers who were employed recently and are well paid.
All P1 trs with diplomas and degrees should be deployed to JSS unconditional… Nancy Macharia should stop descrimination…
Tsc should consider pte who scored c+ in kcse and meet the combination of at least two teaching subject, but they haven’t further education . Let them be retooled through in-service.
With tough guidelines of TSC .Its will be more challenge to get teacher’s who can teach technical subjects in Jss.
Tsc should stop discrimination of P1 teachers who have upgraded their certificates
So true TSC should not sideline the ECD teachers…they also used money to upgrade their certificates
Nancy Macharia should stop sidelining P1 trs with diploma and degree in early childhood education..they also used money to upgrade their certificates
Surely, what is so difficult in deploying teachers with high qualifications to JSS? IT is unfortunate that TSC is still dilly dallying in posting the qualified tutors and schools are now using those without the required qualifications to teach JSS, whereas in the Same schools, there are those who applied for deployment to JSS and are qualified but have been sidelined. This is a great joke. And remember, they’re our children who are being experimented on. It is painful!!!
Employ P1 with cplus to teach jss
Some schools students are still innocent n idled waiting for teachers.You are wasting our kids.You promised as that this gon a be an exellent system.Now why are u failing us?Our kids keeps on asking us questions whereby we are unable to answer them coz we also dont understand.Why now Ruto n your gorvernment????
Which teachers will be left to teach grade 1-6 if all teachers want to be deployed?… just wondering🤔.
When one decide to go back and further education and choose a specific group of learners,you must be having a special call towards them.
Kila mwalimu akae kwa lane yake but tsc to promote the payslips of all the teachers who have put some effort in upgrading.
TSC should not discriminate against SNE P1 teachers who have upgraded their Education.They qualify to teach in JSS for they combined SNE with 2 teaching subjects more so SNE curriculum is quite closer to CBC.
The Government is visibly ruining Education from ECD to University.
… Mistreating teachers…how can can someone employed I the 90s earn the same as an after 2010 employee …a grandchild you taught is in same grade as you who is almost retiring! Restricting academic promotions even those who already received acknowledgements.
Dumping administrators in same job groups regardless of academic achievements.
Admitting Jab students to private universities … busy closing public Campuses at the expense of individual proprietors ….
Very Very frustrating.
Infact these primary teachers or PI as you may want to call them are even more qualified in content delivery than the newly posted JSS teachers.PI are reach methodically and can handle learners at this age very well.Some JSS came from those schools where they were serving on BOM terms and are having it rough handling these small children,,they also specialized in only two subject areas and have no clue what CBC is.
Let TSC look at monetary motivational part of it and let the government build the Laboratories,then the PI teachers will fix this mess once and for all