Education stakeholders are optimistic that the perennial teacher shortage standing at 100,000 teachers will be tackled in the next few years following the pledge by the government to increase the number of recruited teachers to 52,000 up from the recently hired 32,000.
Education expert Otoa Sifuna welcomed the heightened employment of teachers saying it would guarantee improvement in the quality of education offered in schools countrywide.
The experts, who discussed hesitance by teachers to apply for administrative positions advertised by the Teachers Services Commission (TSC) and the persistent teacher shortages at a recent media interview, offered a wide range of solutions.
Sifuna regretted that Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) and universities continued to train teachers but a majority of the graduates could not get employed.
“The government’s vigorous show of interest in restructuring the education sector and decision to start hiring what could be termed as an attractive number of teachers has revived hopes among trainees and graduates that they have a future,” he said.
He said that the problem was not linked to any lack of qualified tutors to fill the vacant positions in schools, but lack of responsive teacher employment policies.
The educationist said that the hiring of teachers would also encourage the youth to join colleges and universities to train as teachers and pursue teaching as a vocation of their choice hence work with passion contrary to what has been happening.
“We appreciate and encourage the government to continue hiring all qualified teachers to reduce teacher shortages,” he said.
Sifuna however said that he would continue insisting for education to be continually restructured to ensure learners attained quality education and not education for the sake.
By Robert Nyagah
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