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Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia (centre) with Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers Secretary-General Akelo Misori (left), TSC Chairman Dr. Jamleck Muturi (right) and other officials during a press briefing in Nairobi on September 2, 2024.
A total of 314,117 jobless teachers submitted applications for the 46,000 vacancies advertised recently by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), highlighting the high unemployment rate among graduates.
This means that the recruitment, which is scheduled to end today, will leave hundreds of thousands of teachers dejected despite schools having huge staffing gaps. The applications were received within one week, from October 1 to 8.
According to the applications data, 144, 177 teachers applied for consideration for the 39,500 permanent and pensionable vacancies available in junior schools across the country. Junior schools are the worst hit by staff shortages and have mainly been staffed by teachers on contract, commonly known as interns.
Some 93,646 teachers applied for the 6,000 jobs on offer in primary schools while 76,294 applications were received by the TSC for 450 jobs in secondary schools.
Schools at all levels have a shortage of teachers which the government has been unable to plug for years.
While campaigning for the top seat in 2022, President William Ruto had promised to employ 116,000 teachers within two years but it has proved to be a difficult task. Once this round of recruitment is completed, the government would have employed 56,000 teachers since coming into to power two years ago.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary-General Akello Misori lauded the government’s move to hire 46,000 teachers on permanent terms, stating it is the largest number in the history of the country.
“Dealing with a smaller deficit is easier. The government has solved part of the problem on education and transition but Parliament must allocate more money to employ jobless teachers. We shouldn’t spend so much money to train teachers and then we don’t get return on our investment,” said Mr Misori.
He observed that many employers have been underpaying teachers owing to a glut in the market, which he termed a bad labour practice.
Since Friday last week, the selection process, vetting of documents of successful candidates, filling of employment forms, issuing offer of employment letters and posting letters has been underway at the sub-county level.
Candidates who feel dissatisfied can lodge their complaints at the TSC county offices between October 22 and October 31. The newly employed teachers are expected to report to schools beginning January 2, 2025.
