Deal clears hiring of 12,000 teachers
From left: Education minister Sam Ongeri, Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Kenya National Union of Teachers chairman George Wesonga on Thursday agreed on the hiring of teachers on contract basis to deal with the current shortage. Photo/PHOEBE OKALL
What you need to know:
Hiring falls short of required staff
Sh2bn: The amount which the Teachers Service Commission said was required for the recruitment of teachers on contract in a bid to ease the shortage of staff facing Kenyan schools
66,000: The number of teachers that Kenya’s public schools need to meet the internationally accepted ratio of one teacher for every 40 pupils. The shortage has been partly blamed for poor performance in exams.
A high-level meeting on Thursday cleared the way for immediate recruitment of at least 12,000 public school teachers on contract.
The Teachers Service Commission has been given the go-ahead to hire the teachers following talks between the government and the Kenya National Union of Teachers.
The union agreed to withdraw a case it had filed in court blocking the recruitment. The breakthrough was achieved at the end of day-long talks between the ministries of Finance and Education and Knut.
This followed a weekend presidential directive to the ministries to unlock the impasse. The meeting, at the Treasury Building, resolved that TSC be allocated Sh2 billion to recruit teachers on contract right away.
This is the first time the TSC will be recruiting teachers on contract, a move it had rejected on grounds that it was only allowed by law to hire permanent teachers.
But there was a rider that the contract teachers will be absorbed as permanent staff should TSC secure the cash.
“In the event that the TSC is to recruit more teachers on permanent and pensionable basis, the teachers serving under contracts shall be given the first priority,” Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta said in a joint statement.
He was accompanied by Education minister Sam Ongeri, TSC boss Gabriel Lengoiboni and Knut national executive officers.
Slow recovery of economy
Mr Kenyatta said the slow recovery of the economy could not support the employment of teachers on permanent terms, yet there was increasing enrolment in schools.
Staffing data by TSC indicate that the country’s public schools need about 66,000 teachers to meet a ratio of one teacher for every 40 pupils accepted internationally.
Thursday’s deal also harmonised salaries for P1 and A-level teachers. Mr Kenyatta also pledged to review the teachers’ remuneration package signed in January.
