State to hire additional 20,000 teachers from July – PS Kipsang

The national government will recruit more than 20,000 teachers and construct additional 16,000 classrooms to enhance implementation of the Competency Based curriculum.

Basic Education PS Belio Kipsang and his Interior counterpart Raymond Omollo said this will reduce teacher shortage in the basic education institutions.

They said the recruitment will begin in July this year.

"The government understands the challenges in education sector and therefore we’ll employ at least 20,000 teachers by July. We want to ensure there is enough teachers in our schools for effective implementation of CBC,” Kipsang said.

Speaking on Friday during education day at Rang’i Primary School and a visit to Orero Boys in Rangwe constituency, Kipasang said the new teachers will improve the environment for learners to acquire education.

He argued that the recruitment will also relieve the school boards of management (BOM) from recruiting teachers.

“Some schools have a serious teacher shortage in which 50 per cent of teachers are employed by the BOM. The government is putting measures in place to address the issue,” he said.

Shortage of teachers has been a serious obstacle impeding implementation of the CBC especially in Junior secondary schools.

Many teachers have complained of the burden as one teacher handles four or more subjects yet they were trained to teach only two subjects.

In some schools, the first lot of Junior secondary school students took more than one month before being taught some subjects.

But the government is now coming up with strategies to overcome the challenge, Kipsang said. 

He added that the government is also looking forward to constructing 16,000 classrooms for Grade nine learners this year.

He said the classrooms will alleviate shortage of classrooms in Junior secondary schools. 

“The government believes in investing in the future lives of our children. We will construct 52 of the classrooms in Rangwe and 2,025 classrooms in Homa Bay,” he said.

PS Omollo said his docket is working closely with the Ministry of Education to create a conducive atmosphere for learning in schools.

The Interior PS noted that the main challenge impeding education in many schools is insecurity.

“Insecurity is one of the issues many schools are grappling with. But we’re putting measures to address the issue,” Omollo said.

The government will set up a police post in strategic areas to address the insecurity, Omollo added.

He urged residents to be responsible in holding each other to account on insecurity to augment government’s efforts in fighting the vice.

Omollo said this will address unemployment in the country, adding that there are many youths who have completed university and tertiary  education but are jobless.

“The government is rolling out an ambitious programme for enabling young people to secure online jobs as well,” he said.