The Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) has come under scrutiny after graduate teachers expressed frustration over the delays in the issuance of TSC numbers.
Addressing the press on Saturday, February 22, the teachers revealed that the delays in obtaining these critical documents left many of them grappling with unemployment.
The teachers also urged the commission to revise the internship duration from the current one year to less than a year to ease the job crisis in the education sector.
According to them, placing a graduate teacher in internship positions for more than a year strained their lives and forced some of them to quit before obtaining permanent employment.
“We request the government that instead of employing a teacher as an intern for two or one year, that period is enough to change the life of somebody if you give them enough resources,” noted a graduate teacher.
While calling for timely employment, the graduate teachers also petitioned the government to offer proper remuneration for them, especially those who have attained higher education levels.
“The students that are graduating right now are doing so with the enrolment of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC); these are the teachers that will be very helpful in the schools,” noted another teacher.
“We ask TSC to prioritise these teachers who have graduated with CBC because most teachers who are currently employed are struggling to understand the new curriculum.
The demands came hardly a month after the government announced plans to recruit an additional 6000 teachers to assist with the implementation of the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Addressing journalists on January 20, Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura stated that the plans were also in line with the preparation for the Grade 10 class, which will be the inaugural class of the Senior Secondary School (SSS).
"The Government is actively addressing teacher shortages and supporting the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) transition. To date, the government has employed 56,000 permanent and pensionable teachers, along with 20,000 interns, to strengthen the education workforce," Mwaura said.
"To further enhance the transition to CBC, the government plans to employ another 6,000 teachers in due course. This effort demonstrates our commitment to providing quality education and adequate staffing for a seamless implementation of the curriculum," he added.
