Unemployed 350,000 teachers to compete for 28,000 vacancies

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Nancy Macharia responds to queries during their meeting with the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education over the recruitment of teachers at County Hall, Parliament on February 14, 2023. [File, Standard]

At least 350,000 unemployed teachers will fight it out for 28,000 job openings in January.

The recruitment drive will include 20,000 intern teachers for junior secondary schools to address the teacher-to-learner ratio, as announced by President William Ruto in October.

The remaining 8,707 positions will be permanent, pensionable roles, aimed at replacing teachers who have retired, resigned, or died.

Of the total vacancies, 5,862 are for primary schools, 21 for junior secondary schools, and 2,824 for secondary schools.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has reported that it has reduced the teacher shortage in junior secondary schools by half.

Nancy Macharia, TSC Chief Executive, revealed in December that the required number of teachers for grades 7 to 9 is 149,350. The government has recruited 76,928 teachers so far, meeting 51.5 per cent of the need. However, there remains a projected shortage of 72,422 teachers or 48.5 per cent.

Despite these efforts, over 350,000 trained teachers remain unemployed.

The staff deficit has placed a strain on schools, leading to large class sizes, overburdened teachers, and a lack of specialised personnel for the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

Junior secondary schools are particularly affected.

The CBC, which emphasises hands-on learning and individualised attention, requires smaller class sizes and subject-specific teachers.

Education experts warn that unless the teacher shortage is addressed, the objectives of the CBC will not be met.

Akello Misori, Secretary-General of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), welcomed the recruitment initiative but called for a more structured plan.

“The TSC needs a clear roadmap for addressing both current and future teacher shortages. This should include forecasting demand based on enrolment trends and curriculum changes,” Misori said in an interview with The Standard yesterday.

The shortage is particularly severe in science-based subjects. During a session with the National Assembly Education Committee, Macharia highlighted the lack of teachers in the sciences.

“We face a serious shortage of science teachers. Even before the introduction of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), we would advertise positions for physics teachers across the country but receive no applicants. We have issued advisories on this issue repeatedly,” Macharia said. Macharia outlined plans to prioritise science teachers in the recruitment of the 20,000 new educators.

Kasipul Kabondo MP Eve Obara criticised the practice of assigning arts-trained teachers to teach science subjects, stating that it compromises the quality of education.

“In some schools, arts-trained teachers are teaching science by merely reading from textbooks. This cannot be effective,” Obara said.

Macharia added that the TSC plans to redistribute science teachers within counties to address the shortages.

“Where one school has an excess of science teachers, we will share them with schools facing shortages. However, our biggest challenge remains budgetary,” she said.