We lack enough funds to hire more teachers, says TSC boss
Students of Kawa Academy in Embu welcome TSC chairperson Lydia Nzomo during the TSC open day on March 24, 2018. Dr Nzomo said the commission requires more funding for employing more teachers to address biting shortage. PHOTO |CHARLES WANYORO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Dr Nzomo urged education stakeholders not to blame TSC commissioners for the problem.
She appealed to the Parliament to push for more funding to ensure schools have enough teachers.
Embu County Education Executive John Kiamati, blamed TSC and teachers’ unions for failure to negotiate better terms.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has absolved itself from blame over failure to address biting staffing shortage in public schools, saying it is grappling with inadequate funds.
TSC Chairperson Lydia Nzomo said although the education sector is among the highest funded, the amount is still not enough to employ enough teachers to meet the required standards.
She said the department received Sh201 billion, translating into about 10 percent of the total budget, but couldn’t employ enough teachers, and urged education stakeholders not to blame TSC commissioners for the problem.
Responding to queries from Runyenjes MP Eric Muchangi, public schools’ boards of management and headteachers from upper Eastern region, Dr Nzomo said their hands are tied due to the low funding.
UNDERSTAFFING
“The issue of understaffing is a nationwide issue. It is not just a problem for the Teachers Service Commission. The commission would have no reason to deny teachers [to] schools. Employment of teachers, like all forms of employment, requires funding,” said Dr Nzomo.
She appealed to the Parliament to push for more funding to ensure schools have enough teachers to meet the demand posed by the introduction of free day secondary school learning.
Embu County Education Executive John Kiamati, a former secondary school principal, complained that teachers are some of the most overworked but receive inadequate salaries.
He blamed TSC and teachers’ unions for failure to negotiate better terms.
Embu County Education Board official, Peter Kathambara, who represented the national board of management chairman, Dr James Kanya, said most upcoming schools are facing massive shortage of staff.
He said the problem is further compounded by failure by the government to provide money to boards of management to hire teachers, while at the same time urging parents not to pay for such expenditure.
TRAINED TEACHERS
“We have so many trained teachers still at home yet the government is not recruiting. Why don’t you deploy them? Let us take them to areas where schools are understaffed. Every end of the year when we receive budgets from secondary schools, they have the BOM teachers’ component yet they have no authority to levy [so as to employ] them. Due to introduction of free education, the (student) numbers have skyrocketed,” said Mr Kathambara.
The official also claimed that there are many cases of teachers committing suicide or sinking into depression or other stress-related conditions and called for deployment of professional counsellors and chaplains to help alleviate the situation.
Mr Muchangi also appealed to TSC to review the criteria used to determine those who would receive hardship allowances, saying many teachers working under harsh environment had been side-lined.
