As far as curriculum implementation in schools is concerned, teachers are very important. At present, a new CBC curriculum is being implemented in primary schools. In January next year, the first CBC group will be held in junior secondary schools. This is where the government will face off. Challenges due to imminent double transition. New orbitals continue to be built.
TSC is on course to hire teachers this year to bridge the gap. This will also help in higher number of learners. However, the commission still faces some setbacks. It seems that it may now be forced to hire more teachers in some areas. Due to the mass exodus of teachers.
North Rift stakeholders have lamented the mass exit of teachers from the region. Amazingly, these teachers have become involved in ongoing politics, while others have decided to seek greener pastures. For example, in the county of Governor Lonyangpuo, hundreds of teachers have secured jobs in their county government.
A sad thing is that in West Pokot alone, at least 400 teachers have left the profession. TSC has been blamed for KNUT failure to replace job-dropping teachers.
Education stakeholders have now sounded the alarm saying that the implementation of the new curriculum is likely to be affected if TSC does not move swiftly to replace these teachers. What next for TSC?
Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia said that compared to last year, the shortage of teachers in government schools was 103,931.
Macharia, who appeared before the Senate Education Committee, said that shortages exist in primary and post-primary institutions.
According to TSC documents presented before the committee, there is a shortage of 57,822 teachers in post-primary institutions, while there is a shortage of 46,109 in primary schools.
However, the TSC boss said that the commission is trying to bridge the gap through the recruitment of interns and through their replacement, among other measures, who come out of service naturally. “The commission, for its part, has tried to address the shortage of teachers. To address the shortage of teachers in both primary and post-primary institutions in all public institutions in the country by seeking extra budgetary allocation for employment of new teachers,” she said.
