TSC: 60,000 tutors to be trained as pupils wait to join junior secondary

Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia hands over KCSE examination papers in Kisauni, Mombasa County, yesterday. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

Plans by the government to put in place junior secondary schools are at an advanced stage as it gears towards re-tooling 60,000 teachers on the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) system next month.

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Officer Dr Nancy Macharia said 229,000 tutors have undergone training.

“Our teachers are ready for the CBC. In fact, we shall continue to offer them training. For those not employed by us, it is worth noting that they also are being trained so that when we also absorb them, there will be no need to re-tool them,” she said yesterday.

On teacher shortage, Dr Macharia said the commission was optimistic that the government will hire 5,000 new tutors. “This is an election year. We know there are limited resources but we remain hopeful that the government will listen to us and ensure our children have enough teachers.”

She was speaking in Mombasa when she led senior government officials in witnessing the opening of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination materials at the Kisauni deputy county commissioner office.

Meanwhile, the TSC boss and Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha have downplayed fears that the KCSE exam has leaked.

Dr Macharia said the tests have remained intact “except in a few isolated cases when it got exposed after distribution.”

‘’There has been exposure of the examination materials after picking from the containerised strong rooms that are under lock and key and under 24-hour guard. Some bad elements open earlier than the stipulated time.”

Prof Magoha, who was speaking in Vihiga County where he supervised the distribution of KCSE examination materials, insisted that no test papers had been leaked.

“We have ensured the credibility of the examinations to date by cutting off the channels used to leak the papers,” he said.

But according to detectives, individuals suspected of selling exam papers have been arrested and charged. Mobile phones have also been confiscated, with the latest incident reported in Wajir East on Monday.