TSC to employ 5,000 teachers on permanent terms and another 5,500 on internship in July 2021

TSC Boss Dr. Nancy Macharia. The Commission has paid teachers' April salaries with the new tax regime factored in. — TSC Boss Dr. Nancy Macharia.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is planning to hire 15,000 teachers in the next three years on permanent terms. This means that the Commission will be engaging the services of 5,000 teachers per year.

In what is seen as a move to sideline unemployed P1 certificate holders, TSC says they will only be hiring secondary school teachers.

Another 16,500 teachers will be engaged on internship basis within the same period. This means every year 5,500 teachers will be engaged on contract basis.

This information is contained in the 2021 budget estimates where TSC has been allocated Sh281.7 Billion Up from the Sh266 Billion allocated in the 2020/2021 financial year.

A chunk of the new teachers will be posted to secondary which will get 5,000 teachers of the 5,500 teachers.

Similarly 3,500 intern teachers will be hired in secondary schools while, 2,000 will be posted to primary schools.

Primary schools are being sidelined since the phasing out of the 8-4-4 system is expected to reduce the work load in the schools.

In the new curriculum, 2 classes will be hived off since learners will move to secondary school after grade six under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).

When CBC is fully implemented, secondary schools are expected to have six classes; up from the current four. The Junior and Senior secondary schools will have three classes each.

In 2023, there will be a double intake in secondary schools as the first cohort of the CBC and the last cohort of the 8-4-4 system will converge at Junior Secondary schools.

This comes at a time when the Commission has come up with new proposals on the minimum entry of teachers to universities and colleges. In the new proposals TSC is proposing the Diploma to be the minimum qualification for teachers at all levels.

Starting this year, training colleges will launch a three year teaching diploma course that is aligned to the new curriculum.