The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will re-deploy a total of 18,194 excess teachers in public primary schools to areas experiencing low staffing to ensure balance in teacher distribution across the country.
TSC Secretary and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Nancy Macharia revealed this during the release of the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results at Moi Girls High School Eldoret.
According to Dr. Macharia, the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in primary and Junior Secondary Schools (JSSs) has shaken up the staffing levels since the number of classes in the primary school level has reduced by two classes (Standard 7 and 8), which has significantly reduced teacher requirements in primary schools.
“We continue reviewing our systems and staffing levels at both primary and post-primary levels to ensure that teachers are equitably distributed in institutions across the country. We take note for example, that the implementation of CBC in our primary and Junior Schools has shaken up the staffing levels,” she said.
“The number of classes at the primary school level has reduced by two classes (Standard 7 and 8). Consequently, the teacher requirement for primary schools has reduced significantly leading to an excess of 18,194 staff. The Commission will redistribute all these teachers to schools to ensure all institutions have balanced and lower teacher-to-learner ratios,” she added.
The TSC boss also stated that the additional one class in 2024 (Grade 8) in JSS has created a staffing shortage of 42,117 teachers at this level, where the number of teachers required this year is 99,045 against the current 56,928.
“It’s heartening to know, however, that the Government is progressively funding TSC for the recruitment of additional teachers until optimal levels are achieved. In the next financial year, TSC has requested for funds for an additional 20,000 teachers,” she said.
A total of 100,771 teachers were contracted by Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) during the 2023 KCSE examinations where 70,895 teachers were contracted either as invigilators, supervisors and centre managers; another 29,876 teachers were engaged as examiners in 40 centres to mark the 2023 KCSE Examination.
By Roy Hezron
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