Counties that were allocated lowest number of JSS teachers
Counties that were allocated lowest number of JSS teachers. Concerns from several stakeholders in the education sector about whether the number of teachers employed by TSC will be enough to meet the expanding demand.
Over 30,000 teachers have been placed in public junior secondary schools across the nation by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), and they are required to report by Monday of the following week.
The Ministry of Education is still working to make sure that this first cohort of Grade 7 students adjusts to school, over a week after they reported to class to begin their first term of Junior Secondary School.
However, one of the major issues that paralyzed learning in the first week was the delayed deployment of teachers, especially for public schools.
“Last night I traveled to Kisumu and visited about seven schools. I spoke with the head teachers who are in charge of the junior secondary schools, and they said that the teachers have not reported. And for those who have reported, there is only one teacher out of a stream of four, making the situation complicated, according to KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu.
After the TSC said that over 30,000 teachers were scheduled to report to public junior secondary schools across the nation on Monday, the scenario is likely to change in the upcoming week.
Each Junior Secondary School received one teacher, and the allocation of teachers was done in accordance with the number of Grade 7 classrooms in each county.
TSC wanted to recruit 90,000 teachers on permanent and pensionable terms of service and 21,550 teachers on intership basis.
According to TSC’s recruiting plan, the counties that most likely benefited are Kitui (1,475 teachers were to be hired), Kakamega (1,449), Nakuru (1,223), Bungoma (1,208), Meru (1,120), and Machakos (1,050).
In this recruitment strategy, the counties that received the fewest teachers are Isiolo, expecting 119 teachers, Lamu (131), Samburu (175), Garissa (190), Marsabit (191), Mombasa (192), and Tana River (192).
Mr. Oyuu has found flaws in the process of recruitment, saying that teachers with KCSE scores below a C+ were unlawfully barred from employment.
“I don’t think it is wise enough to condemn this teacher for not being able to handle Junior Secondary School based on the fact that the teacher had a grade C plain,” the KNUT boss said. “If this teacher has competently qualified for the teaching subjects and has a degree, the teacher has qualified competently for the degree certificate.”
While praising the commission’s decision to hire a record-breaking number of teachers in a single year, the stakeholders in education insist that more work has to be done to overcome the teacher shortage.
“With the new curriculum and the new learning styles, TSC must rationalize personnel because our teachers are overworked. TSC must be focused at this point because some regions shouldn’t be overstaffed while others are, according to KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori.
The issue of preparing the human resource for CBC implementation is a further important consideration.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia stated that the commission has already trained 2,376 master trainers and has a goal of training 90,000 teachers by April 2023.
“The teacher issue is a very serious issue,” Misori continued. “For this curriculum to be implemented with the attendant results we expect numbers, the teachers should be motivated, and the teachers should be properly inducted into the processes.
According to the rules established by the Ministry of Education, students in junior secondary school will be exposed to a maximum of 14 subject areas throughout the course of 9 courses each day.
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