The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is facing significant challenges in its efforts to deploy primary school teachers to junior secondary schools (JSS).
Despite keeping the online application portal open for over two months, the TSC is still far from meeting its recruitment target. This ongoing struggle has forced TSC to reconsider its stringent academic requirements for deployment, as the pool of eligible candidates remains alarmingly low.
The recruitment exercise, which was officially launched on January 13, 2025, was initially set to conclude on January 24, 2025. However, due to the low number of applications, TSC was compelled to extend the deadline indefinitely.
Currently, the portal remains open, but there has been no significant increase in applications, leaving the Commission in a difficult position.
TSC had initially set a target of deploying 6,000 primary school teachers to JSS by April 2025. However, the strict academic qualifications required for deployment have proven to be a major hurdle for many teachers.
The Commission had initially hinted at deploying primary school teachers who hold any education-related diploma or degree certificate to JSS. However, after further consultations and advisories, it was forced to retract this approach, opting instead for stricter qualification criteria.
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To facilitate deployment, TSC generated lists from its database containing names of P1 teachers with various diplomas and degree certificates. The Commission also sought additional details from primary school heads, requiring them to provide information such as:
- KCSE mean grade
- Specialization (e.g., Bachelor of Education in Arts, Science, ECDE, SNE, or Diploma in Education)
- Two teaching subjects and their corresponding KCSE grades
However, after collecting this data, TSC abandoned its plan, citing concerns over the alignment of qualifications with the demands of the junior secondary school curriculum.
One of the major stumbling blocks has been the KCSE mean grade requirement. Most primary school teachers attained a C (plain) in KCSE, whereas TSC requires a C+ mean grade with at least a C+ in two teaching subjects for deployment to JSS.
Although some teachers have upgraded their qualifications by acquiring diplomas and degrees, their academic backgrounds still do not fully align with TSC’s requirements. This mismatch has led to a shortage of eligible candidates, further complicating the deployment process.
Amidst this crisis, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has urged TSC to reconsider its stance on academic qualifications. KNUT officials argue that rather than imposing rigid academic requirements, the Commission should focus on retooling the existing P1 teachers and allowing them to teach Grade 7, 8, and 9 learners.
This proposal is backed by concerns that JSS is struggling with a shortage of teachers in subjects such as Music, Arts and Craft, and Physical Education, which primary school teachers are well-equipped to handle.
Critics argue that by overlooking experienced P1 teachers, TSC is exacerbating the staffing crisis in JSS instead of resolving it.
According to TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia, the Commission requires a total of 72,422 teachers to bridge the teacher deficit in JSS. In total, 149,350 teachers are needed to effectively handle Grades 7, 8, and 9.
Currently, TSC has employed 76,928 teachers in JSS, which only represents 51.5% of the total requirement.
These include:
- 39,550 JSS teachers initially recruited as interns, are now confirmed.
- 8,378 P1 teachers deployed to JSS in 2023 and 2024.
- 9,000 JSS teachers hired on permanent and pensionable terms.
To address this crisis, the government allocated KES 4.8 billion to recruit 20,000 JSS teachers on internship terms. However, even with these efforts, the teacher-to-class ratio currently stands at 1:1, highlighting the severity of the shortage.
Since the introduction of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and Competency-Based Assessment (CBA), TSC has made significant efforts to retool teachers. Since April 2019, a total of 229,292 teachers have undergone CBC and CBA training.
Between May 2023 and November 2024, an additional 60,642 JSS teachers have been retooled to enhance their competency in delivering the new curriculum. Despite these efforts, the shortage remains critical, prompting TSC to plan for the recruitment of 18,000 additional JSS intern teachers in December 2025.
As the April deployment deadline approaches, TSC finds itself at a crossroads. While the Commission has made commendable efforts in teacher recruitment and training, the strict academic requirements have proven to be a major obstacle.
The ongoing crisis calls for a more flexible and practical approach, possibly through further retooling of P1 teachers, as KNUT and other stakeholders have suggested.
With the future of thousands of learners at stake, TSC must act swiftly to find a balance between maintaining quality education standards and ensuring that junior secondary schools have enough teachers to meet the growing demand.
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