By Azael Masese
Kajiado County has employed a different approach to address teacher shortage in the region, which stands at about 1,500 in primary and secondary schools.
Teachers Service Commission (TSC) County Director Daniel Cherutoi said the strategy involves encouraging Boards of Management (BOM) of various institutions to recruit trained and registered teachers.
“The reality is that it will take awhile for the country to sufficiently recruit enough teachers in our public schools hence the need to employ other means,” he noted.
However, those charged with this responsibility should not ask for any additional levy as the policy prohibits parents paying a fee to pay teachers.
Cherutoi advised the BOMs to explore other revenue streams in order to pay teachers and assist in addressing the biting shortage.
“We use public forums such as education days to explain to the stakeholders the reality on the ground and the need to look for innovative ways of bridging teacher shortage,” he stated.
Even in instances where schools do not employ trained and registered teachers as the policy dictates, they monitor the schools to enforce the same.
The approach Cherutoi offered has been well received and hopes it will address the teacher shortage challenges in a county where teacher management is facing an uphill task.
“Due to the vastness of the county, teachers face numerous challenges such poor infrastructure,” he told Education News at his Kajiado town office.
Consequently, a number of them would prefer working in more developed regions mostly those that border Nairobi such as Kitengela, Ongata Rongai and Ngong’.
A number of teachers try all means to be posted in institutions located in these areas and avoid being posted in areas that border Taita Taveta, Narok, and Tanzania due to poor infrastructure.
Even an attempt to move teachers from high potential areas to less potential ones is also creating a deficit in the personnel.
The county borders a number of counties including Nairobi, Machakos, Makueni, Narok and Taita Taveta.
Due to the nomadic nature of the Masaai community, who move along with their families in search of pasture during the dry spells, children tend to perform poorly.
“By the time they come back to class, they have missed some lessons and their performance is thus poor”, Cherutoi said.
With TSC implementing numerous reforms, such as promoting teachers based on performance, teachers in this region can stagnate in one job group for long.
However, he remained upbeat that the region stands to benefit significantly with the ongoing delocalisation of school administrators.
“If we are able to get teachers from outside the region and who are performers, the county stand to benefit,” he said of the policy.
