100,000 Job Applications Expose Extent of Unemployment in Kenya

TSC on Thursday, October 17, 2019, reported that a total of 102,818 jobless trained teachers applied for the 10,300 internship positions that had been advertised.

The commission mentioned that 97,736 teachers had applied to teach in secondary schools, while 5,182 in primary schools.

The employer claimed that there was a shortage of 100,000 teachers but the commission was only looking to hire 4,000 teachers for primary and 6,000 for secondary schools.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha. On Wednesday, October 16 he faulted his officials for lying about the state of some schools in the country. Photo: Daily Natio.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha and Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang have been leading a crackdown of unsafe learning institutions, with over 174 schools and another 300 closed in Nyanza and Mombasa respectively.

Magoha on Wednesday, October 16, claimed that over 3,000 schools in the country were unregistered but were still operational.

"I am ashamed to tell the president that we had closed 2,000 unregistered schools in the country," Magoha revealed while speaking at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in Nairobi.

Daily Nation reported on Friday, October 18 that the shutdown of schools was sending fear among teachers as they remained in doubt whether they would be back at their jobs.

The publication revealed that the nationwide clampdown of schools that fell short of set minimum safety requirements had affected teachers, as they remained unsure if the institutions would be re-opened.

Learners in the closed schools were relocated to other institutions but teachers were left in limbo as they wondered where they would be placed.

As doubts lingered over job loses, K24 Digital reported on Friday, October 18, that the ministry had released a calendar for pre-primary, primary and secondary schools for 2020.

January 6, 2020, was disclosed as the official opening date, with schools breaking for term one holidays on April 10, 2020.

George Magoha and official from the Education Ministry when he visited Greenfield school in Mombasa on September 27. Photo: The Standard.