One of the biggest challenges in the education sector is a shortage of teachers. Without enough tutors, one cannot guarantee quality learning for the young people, who are the country’s future.
The biggest challenge is the transition to senior school, with the admission of Grade 10 learners earlier this year. This critical phase in the rollout of the competence-based education (CBE) specifically requires 58,590 teachers.
It is a crisis driven by increased enrolment to ensure compliance with the government’s 100 per cent transition policy. The result is overworked teachers, compromising quality.
As the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), which is an independent entity charged with the recruitment of teachers, grapples with this problem, it is also reeling from a court ruling affecting 44,000 intern teachers, who have been deployed to junior schools.
The Court of Appeal last month upheld a decision by the Employment and Labour Relations Court that declared the TSC’s internship programme policy discriminatory, unconstitutional and illegal. This came after the interns had renewed their contracts for another year to serve until December 31.
However, the CBE transition has highlighted a severe shortage of specialised teachers to handle the subjects in the new curriculum. As these teachers are mainly deployed in the junior schools, they will be severely understaffed.
The TSC says it has only two options, which are to absorb the teachers on permanent and pensionable terms, or terminate their employment as the internship programme is now null and void.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba says the government has no choice but to abide by the Court of Appeal decision to quash the internship policy.
It is in the interest of the learners and the interns that the National Treasury should provide funds to hire the tutors, as laying them off is not an option, considering the teacher shortage in junior schools.
