Universities Demand Mass Recruitment of Lecturers Ahead of Next Academic Year’s Crisis
Universities and other institutions of higher learning are facing a crisis ahead of the next academic year’s mass admissions.
On Friday, October 7, university lecturers complained that the government had failed to consider some of their demands before implementing the 100% transition from primary to secondary school.
Dons observed that higher education institutions are understaffed, with the majority relying on part-time lecturers to run their academic activities.
The lecturers stated that the government came up with a 100 percent policy from primary to secondary, and the students are about to transition to university, yet the institutions are relying on part-time lecturers.
Constantine Wasonga, secretary general of the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), added that public universities are chronically underfunded.
According to Wesonga, most universities’ readiness to accept new students is also being hampered by a lack of resources.
UASU has asked President William Ruto’s government to allocate more funds for recruiting lecturers in order to support mass transition and enforce the 100% transition rate.
They contended that mass recruitment should take place concurrently with the hiring of over 58,000 teachers in public primary and secondary schools this fiscal year.
Following the disruption caused by the pandemic in 2020, the academic calendar is expected to return to normalcy in January 2023.
Nonetheless, the resumption of the regular school calendar will be informed by policy reviews proposed by Ruto’s Working Party Education Reforms to review the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Among the issues Ruto wants to be addressed are teacher deployment and institutional funding.
They also want the government to address collective bargaining agreements in order to align their pay and benefits.
Universities Demand Mass Recruitment of Lecturers Ahead of Next Academic Year’s Crisis