Teachers Service Commission chief executive officer Nancy Macharia. TSC is hiring 8,672 teachers to support a new Government policy to have all primary school leavers enrolled into secondary schools. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 
The Teachers Service Commission is hiring 8,672 teachers to support a new Government policy to have all primary school leavers enrolled into secondary schools.
The new teachers are supposed to plug a severe staffing shortage in public secondary and primary schools — estimated to be 155,000, said chief executive Nancy Macharia on Wednesday.
A total of 7,672 of the new staffers will be appointed in secondary schools while 1,000 will be posted in primary.
The commission had asked the government for Sh8.3 billion to recruit 12,626 secondary teachers annually for four years, translating to 50,504 teachers to support the transition.
But the Government only gave Sh4.7 billion, according to this year’s budget policy statement.
TSC yesterday told those interested in the positions to apply by May 25, adding: “Those who had applied earlier and were unsuccessful must apply afresh since the merit list for 2018/2019 financial year will be generated. Successful candidates will be deployed to serve in any part of the country.”
ORIGINAL CERTIFICATES
“Eligible candidates must be Kenyan citizens, 45 years old or below, must have original professional and academic certificates and must be registered as teachers.”
Applicants for posts in primary schools must have a P1 certificate, while those seeking jobs in primary institutions must have a minimum of a diploma in education.
“Interested candidates should apply to the secretary, board of management of the school or institution where the vacancy has been advertised and submit a copy to the TSC county director.”
In primary schools, Mandera County has been allocated 118 teachers, Garissa 104, while Wajir, which was recently hit by a wave of transfers following terrorist attacks will get 30. The remaining 44 counties will get 17 each.
In secondary schools, Garissa has been allocated 163, Wajir 50 teachers and Mandera 70 .
INTERN TEACHERS
The National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya has asked for 900 primary teachers and 300 for secondary at a combined cost of Sh181 million per year in Garissa, Wajir and Mandera.
“To date, the commission has in its register 291,785 unemployed teachers a figure that outweighs the total shortage in public schools,” said Mrs Macharia. Last year, a total of 993,718 candidates sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination but by February about 200,000 were yet to report their schools due to unexplained reasons.
Mrs Macharia recently told the National Assembly’s Education Committee that she needed Sh16 billion to recruit 68,000 intern teachers and Sh10 billion to hire 20,000 teachers on permanent terms.
Mrs Macharia said primary schools are short of 40,972 teachers, while secondary schools lack 63,849.
The campaign to achieve a 100 per cent transition rate from primary to secondary schools has also created the need for 50,504 new teachers for four years.
MORE FUNDS
Budget estimates for 2018/2019 indicate that the commission has been allocated Sh226 billion.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary General Wilson Sossion asked the government to provide more funds to plug the shortages.
The 100 per cent transition is aimed at ensuring that all pupils who sit their Class Eight examinations join secondary schools.
Already, the World Bank has recommended that Kenya considers phasing out qualifying examinations for those joining secondary schools in order to address the issue of poor transition.
The report which was discussed at the Pan African High –Level Conference on Education, which ended last month in Nairobi recommended that the government puts focus on students’ continuous assessment tests.
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