Teacher shortage persists even as TSC hires 20,000 interns
Junior Secondary School teachers during a past protest in Kakamega town to demand better terms of employment for interns.
What you need to know:
- Last year, the government converted 39,550 teachers serving in junior school on contract to permanent employment.
- The government has allocated Sh4.8 billion to recruit 20,000 additional teacher interns for junior schools from this month.
Public primary schools that host junior school face staffing challenges despite government plans to recruit 20,000 more teachers on contract.
This follows the transition of more than one million learners to Grade 9 under the competency-based curriculum (CBC).
Last year, the government converted 39,550 teachers serving in junior school on contract to permanent employment.
Another 8,378 teachers deployed to primary schools were upgraded to teach in junior schools.
However, the addition of the new class poses a new challenge to the about 20,000 schools offering junior school. According to data from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), despite efforts to recruit more teachers, a shortage of 72,422 teachers remains.
The government has allocated Sh4.8 billion to recruit the 20,000 additional teacher interns for junior schools from this month.
“We still face teacher shortages, and there are gaps to fill. However, since Tuesday, three to five teachers have been reporting to schools. If more interns are hired, it will help a lot to fill these gaps. Also, moving teachers from primary schools to junior schools will help a great deal,” said Kenya Primary School Head Teachers Association Chairperson Johnson Nzioka.
The shortage of staff in schools has resulted in overcrowded classrooms, overstretched teachers and a lack of subject specialists needed for proper implementation of CBC.
CBC, which prioritises practical learning and personalised instruction, demands smaller classes and educators with expertise in specific subjects, making the shortage even more critical.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers Deputy Secretary-General Moses Nthurima attributed the crisis to inadequate political goodwill and insufficient funding.
“We need more than 100,000 teachers in post-primary institutions, with the shortage in sciences and mathematics being particularly severe. The biggest obstacle is political goodwill, which is lacking, as the government prioritises infrastructure over education and fails to see the importance of investing in employment through financing,” he said. He criticised TSC for its reliance on the internship programme.
“TSC is mandated to employ teachers permanently, not through internships, there is no law that allows TSC to employ interns. That’s why the internship programme was contested in court,” he stated.
Deploying primary school teachers to junior schools was described as a temporary fix. While some of these teachers meet the qualifications, this approach fails to address the core issue of inadequate staffing.
“TSC has proposals to address the shortage, but implementation depends on Treasury and Parliament’s budget allocation,” he added.
During a townhall, education stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, and TSC emphasised the importance of a multi-agency approach to addressing challenges in CBC implementation.
“The expected teacher establishment for junior school currently stands at 149,350 teachers. To date, the Commission has recruited 76,928 (51.5%) teachers for junior school, thus the projected shortage is estimated to be 72,422 (48.5%),” said TSC boss Nancy Macharia.
