The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will next week advertise a fresh round of recruitment of 20,000 teachers on contract for junior schools, giving an opportunity for hundreds of thousands of jobless teachers.
The recruitment comes just a week after the completion of another one for 46,000 junior school teachers on permanent terms. The CEO of the commission, Nancy Macharia, confirmed this to Nation . She also revealed that after the commission will also call for applications for the promotion of teachers.
On Wednesday, Ms Macharia told the Education Committee of the National Assembly that the country faces a shortage of teachers, especially in sciences. On Friday, she said that science teachers would be given a preference during the recruitment exercise.
“I have never denied the fact that, as a country, we have a crisis and we need to look for ways to address it. We have to agree that there is a shortage of science teachers. When advertisements for physics teachers are made, nobody applies,” the TSC boss told the committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly.
Ms Macharia confirmed that the commission had received funding to recruit the teachers on contract, commonly referred to as interns. They will be posted to schools in January 2025.
Elsewhere, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) confirmed that the recruitment of the 20,000 junior school teachers had featured in its negotiations with the TSC.
The announcement was made by Kuppet Secretary-General Akello Misori on Friday when he closed the Kilifi branch general assembly in Kaloleni.
“I am proud to say that the union has won more than 80 percent of our demands. As I speak here, the TSC is finalising the recruitment of 20,000 new teachers for junior school. This recruitment will be strictly for science teachers. The advertisement will be published on October 29, 2024, giving eligible teachers one week to apply,” said Mr Misori.
He added that next Tuesday, the employer will also advertise vacancies for the promotion of 45,000 teachers who have stagnated in the same job group for more than five years. The teachers will be allowed to apply on the portal for interviews to start in mid-November 2024.
“Kuppet has asked the TSC to pay special attention to approximately 1,000 senior teachers who have stagnated for more than 10 years. I ask branch leaders to identify these teachers who have suffered in silence for years so they can get justice from the employer,” said Mr Misori.
Another contentious issue was a review of the career progression guidelines (CPGs) which have been blamed for stalling teachers’ progression through the ranks of the profession. The two parties have been engaged in talks over the same.
“The commission has made significant progress on reviewing the CPGs that have caused stagnation in the teaching service. The union will soon give its input to the new guidelines, which will reduce the number of promotional grades and ensure quick career growth for teachers. The new guidelines will be launched in December for their application starting January 2025,” Mr Misori said.
He went on to give details of the demands the union has lined up ahead of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) before the current one expires at the end of June 2025. The demands include a salary increment of between 30 and 70 percent, a reduction of the CBA cycle from four years to two, new salary scales for teachers following job re-evaluation, and automatic career progression up to the deputy principal level.
Other demands are a review of house allowances to reflect current market dynamics, the introduction of post-graduate and risk allowances and the introduction of risk allowance for science teachers.
Kuppet will also push for the remuneration of teachers performing duties on behalf of the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), the Ministry of Education and other autonomous agencies as per the Human Recourse Policies and Procedures Manual for the Public Service .
