The Teachers Service Commission has absolved itself from blame over the shortage of teachers in the country.
CEO Nancy Macharia blamed Treasury, saying on Tuesday that it has not released funds required to hire 20,000 teachers annually and close a deficit of 155,605.
“The National Assembly appropriates only Sh2.5 billion annually for the recruitment of 5,000 teachers. Every time we are given 5,000 teachers, we do not know how to distribute them," she told
the parliamentary Education committee.
Macharia noted the commission needs to hire 68,000 interns at a cost of Sh16 billion, and 12,696 trained teachers, to cater to the government’s 100 per cent rate of student transition to secondary schools this year.
She added the commission is overwhelmed because it has only 312,060 teachers but is unable to hire 291,635 for lack of funds.
“If we were given this kind of money to employ 20,000 teachers, in four years we would close the gap,” Macharia said.
Macharia faced the MPs alongside
Education CS Amina Mohamed.
They responded to questions raised by Homa Bay MP Peter Kaluma about the teacher-student ratios in public primary and secondary schools.
The duo also shed light on the number of unemployed trained teachers, vacancies countrywide and steps being taken to hire unemployed teachers.
Macharia said primary schools are staffed based on the 'one teacher per class plus one' principle.
“The plus one caters for teachers who might be absent. If a school has one stream, which means it has eight classes, the establishment is nine teachers. A 10-stream school will have 81 teachers."
Secondary schools are staffed on the basis of the curriculum based establishment (CBE) where every teacher is allocated a load of 27 lessons per week.
“A one-stream school from fom one to four has four classes and will need nine teachers while 12-stream schools with 48 classes will need 101 teachers.”
The Chief Executive Officer further said that teacher staffing in tertiary institutions is based on the number of departments.
“We have a large workforce out there but we do not have the money. If we had the money, we would employ all these teachers and even leave some unemployed because of lack of vacancies."
Related:
Also read:
"MATTERS WORSENING"
Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion expressed concern that the teacher-student ratio in Kenya worsens every year.
He said it has worsened from 1:35 to 1:50.
On this, Amina said; “I’m not aware as of now that that is the teacher student ratio.”
Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya said the shortage problem is a major concern that needs urgent resolution.
In his constituency of 29 schools, the shortage stands at 243. Garissa, Mandera and Wajir counties have a shortage of 5,000 teachers.
The committee asked the TSC to provide data based on the number of trained local teachers from North Eastern to help determine if they can meet the region’s demand.
This, it said, will eliminate the recurrent hiring of non-local teachers who eventually ask to be transferred over insecurity.
Sossion urged the commission to drop the delocalisation programme saying it goes against ILO and Unesco statues.
“There are signs that it is already being abused. Recruit teachers from the local communities,” he said.
Macharia noted that with 1,948 teachers, North Eastern is among regions with the highest numbers.
“We did not get teachers required
from North Eastern and that is why we have been recruiting from outside.”
The CS, however, expressed reservations about the haphazard transfer of teachers saying it may give credence to terror group al Shabaab.
“When you react to acts of terrorism you allow them to win. My Interior ministry
colleagues and I need to find a way to ensure security," she said.