20,000 teaching jobs up for grabs, TSC says

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Nancy Macharia. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The Government has announced the start of recruitment of 20,000 teachers to address the teacher shortage in the country.

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has announced that among these are 18,000 intern teachers who will be posted to Junior Secondary Schools.

TSC said that another 2,000 intern teachers will be deployed to primary schools to support the implementation of the new curricula.

Commission Chief Executive Dr Nancy Macharia said that applications will run for two weeks and will close on July 18.

This means that qualified teachers will now have twelve days to apply for vacant teaching positions that will cover both Junior Secondary and Primary schools.

Successful candidates for Junior Secondary shall be required to teach various learning areas under the curriculum and will be entitled to a monthly stipend of Sh20,000.

Those who will teach in primary schools will earn Sh15,000.

Dr Macharia said that the intern contract is meant to equip and sustain the competencies of persons entering the teaching service and will lapse after one year.

''The programme targets unemployed registered teachers to be assigned to learning institutions where their teaching experience will be enhanced through mentorship, coaching, and exposure to practical teaching experiences,'' said Macharia.

The recruitment comes two weeks after Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u said the government has allocated Sh4.8 billion to hire more intern teachers.

According to communication from TSC, to teach in JSS, teachers must be a holder of at least a diploma in education with a minimum of C+ (Plus) and C+ (Plus) in two teaching subjects in KCSE.

In addition, the tutor must be a Kenyan and registered by TSC.

Those applying to teach in primary schools should be a holder of a P1 certificate and registered with the commission.

However, the commission restricted the vacancies to new recruits who have not served either as interns, permanent and pensionable. Additionally, candidates will be posted in the counties they have applied for or those that have vacancies.

While presenting this year's budget, Ndung'u said the government's ultimate goal is to improve an equitable society which is part of human capital.

The allocation is part of the budget allocation of Sh628.6 billion to the sector in this year's budget.

''For this reason, the government will continue to address the irregularity in our education system," Ndungu said.

Macharia assured teachers that with the availability of funds, the commission will employ at least 25,000 teachers per year for the next five years.

In January this year, the government recruited 36, 000 teachers to reduce the 116, 000 teacher shortage that existed for long in schools.

Currently, each intern teacher in primary school earns a monthly stipend of Sh15, 000, while those in secondary schools get Sh20, 000.