Parliament opposes TSC’s pro-rata teacher recruitment method
Parliament opposes TSC's pro-rata teacher recruitment method calling for a review as its not supported by the staff gaps in various constituencies
Parliament opposes TSC’s pro-rata teacher recruitment method calling for a review as its not supported by the staff gaps in various constituencies.
The distribution of teachers being hired has drawn criticism from MPs who claim it disenfranchises areas with a lot of schools.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has been informed by the legislators that the staffing shortages in their respective constituencies do not support the pro-rata technique they now employ.
By using the pro-rata method, everything is dispersed in equal amounts.
All 47 counties have been given 21 slots in the ongoing teacher hiring process, a decision that MPs have criticized as unjust because the counties have varied needs and gaps.
The MPs now want the TSC to take into account a constituency’s population, number of wards, and number of schools when awarding slots to each of the counties.
According to the National Assembly Committee on Education, the technique in use has to be evaluated to take into account a number of factors that are currently disregarded.
“The only fair thing to do here is to consider population, number of wards, number of schools in a sub-county, and the number of existing teachers,” Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera said.
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Malava MP Malulu Injendi said it is unfair to give Kakamega the same number of teachers, despite the county having 12 sub-counties with many schools.
“You cannot tell me that Kakamega County with 12 sub-counties will get the same number of teachers as a county with less than six sub-counties; how fair is that?” he asked.
Igembe North MP-Julius M’anaiba also termed the distribution method unfair as it disadvantages populous counties.
“In Meru County, there are 13 sub-counties, yet it will get the same share with a neighboring county—which I don’t want to mention—with a small population and number of schools. There has to be a formula that does not disadvantage other counties,” Mr. M’anaiba said.
The MPs now want the employer to compile a list indicating teacher shortages per county to inform future distribution.
However, TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia told MPs that the same committee approved the pro-rata method.
“The method we are using at the moment was approved by this committee and some of you were members, so if members feel it should be changed, then you have the powers and for us we will just implement what you said,” she said.
Ms. Macharia said they had been using the method being proposed but it raised a lot of issues with some regions complaining about skewed recruitment as some were getting more teachers than others.
“If you want us to go back to the earlier method, then as a commission we are being overseen by this committee and will just implement what you tell us,” she said.
The commission said it has 9,000 vacancies on permanent and pensionable terms in secondary schools and another 1,000 in primary schools. It will also recruit 21,550 interns in junior secondary schools and another 4,000 for primary schools.
According to the roadmap provided by the commission, the generation of the applicant list, the shortlisting of the county selection panel, and the invitation for interviews will start on Tuesday next week and run for seven days.
The county recruitment process will start on January 5 and end on January 20, 2023.
The vetting at the county level, the handling of complaints, the signing of internship agreements, the issuance of internship letters, and the signing of employment letters will be done on January 12–20.
The new teachers and interns will report to their workstations on January 23 when schools reopen for the first term.
Also read,
TSC extends deadline for teachers’ recruitment
TSC to prioritize on teachers with diploma upgrade certificate in the upcoming recruitment
Category of teachers to be prioritized in the 30,000 recruitment drive
TSC issues a list of teachers not eligible for the ongoing recruitment
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