Acute teacher shortage shadows seamless Grade Nine transition

Teacher Moses Oyalo assists Grade Seven pupils during a lesson at Elite Heritage Schools The Orchards Junior Secondary on Kangundo Road, Nairobi. [File, Standard]

Adequate teachers to support Grade Nine roll out still remains a big question even as the government steps up transition plans for the pioneer class.

This is because there will be no fundamental shift in teachers' numbers even with the ongoing recruitment to replace interns with permanent and pensionable teachers.

Presently, there are about 40,000 intern teachers in junior secondary schools (JSS) and who will be considered for conversion to permanent terms.

Another 6,000 interns are presently teaching in primary schools with another 450 deployed in secondary schools. But even with these numbers, JSS schools only have two teachers, posing a challenge to the smooth roll out of Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

The ongoing recruitment of 46,000 teachers does not amount to a major shift in staffing in JSS schools, unless additional tutors are hired to handle the classes.

It basically means that the challenges facing the JSS and the looming transition shall remain unresolved.

For two years, intern teachers have been pivotal in shaping the JSS, shouldering the responsibility of nurturing students through the CBC.

As part of the broader reforms, the government indicated plans to hire 20,000 more intern teachers to support the JSS system.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary General Akelo Misori poked holes in the transition saying primary schools lack capacity to host JSS.

"Moving JSS from secondary schools to primary institutions was a cardinal mistake. Despite the best efforts of JSS teachers in primary schools hosting them, it is safe to say that no effective learning is taking place in the institutions. What we want is to have enough human resources in our institutions to handle the ballooning student population," Misori said.

While teacher numbers remain a big issue, preparations on the ground to welcome the first cohort of Grade Nine learners is underway with the construction of classrooms.

"The first phase, which began in August is for the construction of 3,500 classrooms at a cost of Sh3.5 billion. This phase is over 70 per cent complete across the country," said Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba when he recently appeared before the National Assembly Education Committee.

He said this is part of the 16,000 classrooms required to ensure enough space is created to accommodate an extra class of learners.

The next phase, Ogamba said, involves construction of 7,500 classes at a cost of Sh7.5 billion with the support of the World Bank and Global Partners. The completion of the construction is set for December 2024.

Additional 5,000 classrooms will be built through the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).

To support these efforts, the National Treasury recently disbursed Sh7.8 billion.