TSC to recruit 5,000 teachers this year

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has announced that it will recruit 5,000 teachers on permanent and pensionable terms this financial year.

Chief executive officer Nancy Macharia said the Commission will also recruit intern teachers at a cost of Sh1.2 billion to help address the existing teacher shortage in primary and secondary schools.

However, TSC did not indicate the number of intern teachers it will be seeking to recruit.

“We hope this prompt and wonderful government intervention will go a long way to address the teachers’ shortage as we continue with the implementation of the competency based curriculum (CBC),” said Ms Macharia.

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich in June allocated TSC Sh3.2 billion for recruitment of teachers.

The education sector has over the years continued to receive the lion’s share of spending.

The Commission had indicated an annual demand of 12,626 teachers.

Ms Macharia said the 317,000 teachers are overstretched.

TSC, in its 2019-2023 Strategic Plan, says it requires Sh82 billion to recruit teachers over the next five years.

Some Sh16.4 billion will be needed each year for recruitment over the next four years and Sh8.1 billion in the fifth year.

This, it said, would enable it to address a biting teacher shortage in schools, currently estimated at about 100,000, which figure is likely to rise to about 120,000 by 2023 unless the number and pace of teacher recruitment is increased.

Staff shortage worsened this year with the government’s push for 100 percent transition of learners from primary to secondary levels.