Kenia: Government to hire 5,000 new teachers

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has announced the recruitment of 5,000 new teachers across the country to address a shortage of 87,000 tutors.

Chief executive officer Nancy Macharia said 2,205 teachers will be deployed in primary schools while 2,795 teachers will be sent to secondary schools and tertiary institutions.

“Interested candidates should submit their applications to county directors of education for primary schools and boards of management for post primary institutions not later than June 14,” Mrs Macharia said in an advert.

She said eligible candidates must be Kenyan citizens, aged 45 years and below, registered with TSC and must have original professional and academic certificates.

Mrs Macharia said applicants for posts in primary schools must be holders of a P1 certificate and should apply to the TSC county director where there is a vacancy, attaching relevant documents.

APPLY A FRESH

“The application should be submitted through the respective TSC sub county directors. Those who had applied earlier and were unsuccessful must apply afresh since a new merit list for 2017/2018 financial year will be generated,” said the CEO.

She said successful candidates will be deployed to any part of the country and not necessary in the county they will be recruited in.

Those applying for jobs in post primary institutions must be holders of a diploma in education and should apply to school boards of management attaching relevant documents.

“TSC will only deal with its county selection panel and boards of management in this exercise. Individual applications to the Commission will not be considered,” said Mrs Macharia, adding that the Commission is an equal opportunity employer.

EMPLOYMENT FORMS

“Successful candidates must not fill employment forms in more than one station as it will lead to disqualification.”

The Commission cautioned Kenyans against fraudsters who may want to extort money from unsuspecting persons purporting to assist them in the recruitment.

The Commission was allocated Sh2 billion for the exercise in the financial year starting July but teachers’ union leaders had demanded employment of more than 90,000 teachers.

TSC currently has 305,000 teachers on its payroll with a budget of about Sh200 billion annually. It has been replacing teachers who exit the service through natural attrition on quarterly basis and last year 5,000 were recruited.

READ: Sossion warns of teachers’ strike, attacks TSC

Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary-general Wilson Sossion and Kenya Union of Post Primary education chairman chairman Omboko Milemba said more teachers ought to be recruited to guarantee quality education.

FREE EDUCATION

“People are talking of free education and that can only be achieved if we hire enough teachers,” said Mr Sossion.

A survey by Twaweza East Africa, released last week, revealed that majority of Kenyans believe that recruitment of more teachers is important, followed by improvement of infrastructure.

The government has committed to improve working conditions for teachers and is set to implement a new collective bargaining agreement from next month.

Last week, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i called on teachers to work towards improving learning outcomes, regretting that the country was doing poorly.

PERFORMANCE

The CBA puts emphasis on performance of teachers; they will be promoted on the basis of their performance and not necessarily experience.

“In recognition of the fundamental shift in policy in public employment and with a view to promote, enhance and maintain high performance standards in the teaching service, parties hereby agree to ensure continuous professional development and annual performance evaluation system,” the CBA says.

Fuente noticia: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/education/Government-to-hire-5-000-new-teachers/2643604-3956772-11rv9a3/index.html