After TSC officials made deliberations with the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has started placing Primary Teacher Education (PTE) teachers to secondary schools.
Chief Executive Officer of TSC, Dr. Nancy Macharia, said that with the implementation of competency-based curriculum, more teachers will be assigned in secondary schools.
Secretary General Knut Collins Oyuu said the deployment process is ongoing.
The deployment process started earlier. “Preparations for the second junior high school transition next year have been implemented,” he said.
The council issued five placement letters to Nairobi County, while Kilifi, Kiambu, Makueni, Embu and Kajiado received three each. Nakuru County has two.
TSC has set targets for teachers assigned to teach in secondary schools.
He also said that TSC will provide training to teachers who will be placed in junior high schools.
The Teachers’ Organization does not advertise this year’s placement posts, but uses merit lists created from previous years’ applications for PTE teacher placements.
In 2019 and 2020, TSC advertised 1,000 jobs to fill the teacher shortage, and said it would support the transfer of 100 percent of teachers from primary to secondary schools.
TSC uses placement as a form of deployment for primary teachers who continue their training.
Members of the House of Representatives urged TSC to allow teachers with an average grade of C or below from KCSE to pursue higher education from accredited institutions that offer diplomas, postgraduate degrees and diplomas.
However, TSC has allowed reservation for teachers who want to work in junior high schools.
In addition to being a Kenyan citizen, the successful candidate must have a P1 certificate and have a bachelor’s degree in education with two teaching subjects.
In addition to having a high school diploma, posted teachers must have a minimum of C+ in KCSE and a minimum of C+ in teaching subjects and must be serving in TSC.
However, unknown to many, there is a section of primary school teachers who joined universities to study secondary options but only got a C (simple) average in their KCSE exams.
In time, universities such as Nairobi, Kenyatta, Pwani and Mount Kenya were registered and he offered lectures to students with an average level of C (straight) in KCSE up to the PTE certificate.
Those posted start at job level C2 with a salary range of Sh34,955 and Sh43,694. There is also a passenger allowance of Sh5,000, a housing allowance of Sh7,500 for those not in the municipality and an annual leave allowance of Sh6,000.
Those struggling receive an additional hardship allowance of Sh10,900.
After completing the three years specified in the Professional Development Guidelines (CPG) for teachers, teachers will be promoted to C3 class.