TSC: Teachers Shortage and Recruitment Remain a Challenge
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) faces several challenges, including a shortage of teachers, lack of professionalism, and slow adoption of IT skills among teachers, according to its 2021/2022 annual report.
The report highlights the impact of alcohol and drug abuse, desertion of duty, and immoral behavior on the effective delivery of the curriculum. The TSC is also concerned about the mental health issues affecting the profession, with one in four teachers seeking outpatient medical services exhibiting a mental health disorder.
TSC has enhanced its medical scheme to facilitate better attention to mental illness-related cases.
The commission has been struggling to plug staffing gaps, with deficits remaining despite the recruitment of 11,859 permanent and pensionable teachers and 6,000 interns over the period covered by the report.
TSC has been allocated Sh322.733 billion in the 2023 Budget Policy Statement, with Sh3.8 million intended for the hiring of 20,000 new teachers to support junior secondary school, which faces a serious staffing challenge.
During the period under review, the TSC trained 93,679 teachers for Grades One to Six, bringing the total number of teachers trained in the competency-based curriculum (CBC) and competency-based assessment to 229,292.
In addition, 55,125 teachers were trained for the implementation of junior secondary school. However, the TSC cited insecurity in some parts of the country and unfavorable working conditions in arid and semi-arid areas and hard-to-staff areas as challenges.
The TSC has decentralized its services to eight regional offices, 47 county offices, and 338 sub-county offices. The commission has also enrolled 149,512 teachers for the Teacher Professional Development program, which was initially opposed by unions.
The TSC’s medical scheme, which is serviced by Minet Kenya, covers about 346,000 teachers on its payroll, excluding the 20,000 interns who are not covered. The commission has been removing teachers from the register for various offenses, with 36 teachers de-registered last month, 44 removed from the register in October, and 73 others removed in July.
The TSC’s report highlights the challenges facing the teaching profession in Kenya and the efforts made by the commission to address them. The shortage of teachers remains a major concern, and the commission is working to recruit more teachers to meet the growing demand for education in the country.
TSC: Teachers Shortage and Recruitment Remain a Challenge