Hiring of teachers to delay, says TSC
What you need to know:
- “We have to go through the documents to verify that the candidates who were recruited met the required standards and guidelines before we give them posting letters,” said Mr Lengoiboni.
- The commission is expected to hire more than 10,000 teachers.
- Out of these, 5,000 are new teachers, while another 5,339 teachers are to replace teachers who have left the service through natural attrition.
Thousands of primary and secondary school teachers recruited in August will have to wait longer to get their appointment letters as the TSC concludes their vetting.
Teachers Service Commission Secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni said this had taken more time than had been anticipated, but assured the candidates that the commission was working around the clock to ensure they get their appointment letters.
“We have to go through the documents to verify that the candidates who were recruited met the required standards and guidelines before we give them posting letters,” said Mr Lengoiboni.
The interviews ended August 11, and the county directors submitted selection and recruitment documents to the TSC headquarters in Nairobi by August 29.
The vetting commenced on September 1, while posting to schools was to be done by September 15.
The commission is expected to hire more than 10,000 teachers.
NEW TEACHERS
Out of these, 5,000 are new teachers, while another 5,339 teachers are to replace teachers who have left the service through natural attrition.
Some 7,142 will be deployed to primary schools and 3,197 will be posted to post-primary institutions.
However, Mr Lengoiboini said several teachers have already been posted to various schools to supplement the workforce of about 288,000 teachers in the country.
Teachers’ unions have on several occasions raised concern on the shortage of teachers in public primary and secondary schools, which have about 80,000 teachers.
The current annual wage bill for teachers stands at Sh161.1 billion, which is about 14.5 per cent of the total recurrent budget for the country. “Quality education can only be achieved by attracting the best candidates into teaching,” Mr Lengoiboni said.
