TSC to employ 5,862 primary school teachers on permanent terms by January 2025.
5,862 primary school teachers will be hired by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) on permanent and pensionable (pnp) terms by January 2025.
But these will not be new jobs; rather, they will be replacements for teachers who have retired, died, or left the service.
TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia announced this week that 8,707 teachers will be hired on PNP terms through replacement in January while speaking to Knut delegates at their Annual Delegates Conference (ADC) in Mombasa.
Macharia stated that 5,862 positions will be filled by candidates with the Primary Teacher Education (PTE) qualification, also referred to as P1.
There will be 21 openings for junior secondary schools and 2,824 openings for secondary schools, according to Macharia.
Recently, unemployed primary school teachers have started demonstrating against the Commission’s underemployment.
TSC has already made references to slowing down the hiring of elementary school teachers, claiming that there are too many of them in the system.
Macharia claimed that because to the new curriculum, there are now more than 18,057 primary school teachers.
As a result of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), two classes were eliminated, leaving primary schools with six classes.
None of the 20,000 teaching internship positions that TSC posted in November of this year were for primary schools.
Prior to this year, 2,000 spots were set aside for elementary school teachers, with the remaining spots going to junior secondary schools.
But all 20,000 spots in the most recent recruiting went to junior secondary, which infuriated P1 instructors.
Approximately 170,000 elementary school teachers are still unemployed by the Commission.
In total, the government intends to send 354,234 unemployed teachers to work in seventeen countries abroad.
According to TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia, any registered teachers who have earned a certificate, diploma, or degree from an accredited university are qualified to work overseas.
Countries that have asked for our teaching services include the United States, Ireland, Germany, France, Canada, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Spain, China, Kuwait, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Botswana, according to Macharia.
Guidelines and a policy framework have already been created by the Commission to help the thousands of teachers without jobs find employment overseas.
The policy framework will be introduced by TSC to inform jobless instructors about the prerequisites and application process for teaching positions abroad.
The policy was created in response to requests for Kenyan teachers to be exported from other countries, according to CEO Nancy Macharia.
Kenyan instructors, particularly those who can teach English, are in great demand in the United States, Ireland, and Germany, according to our research and discussions with the State Department of Diaspora Affairs.
Then there is Thailand and various Middle Eastern countries, and South Africa for individuals who can teach Kiswahili. Ms. Macharia stated that the policy is a focused reaction to this market demand.
As of May 2024, the commission reported that it had 714,234 teachers on its registry, of whom 360,000 were permanently employed by the TSC.
Qatar (Islamic religious education and science instructors) and Kuwait, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates—all of which need special needs education teachers—are among the other nations that are the focus of teacher exports. China, France, Botswana, and Japan all need Kiswahili teachers, Ms. Macharia stated.
She also mentioned the demand for English-teaching professionals in China, France, Canada, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates.
The government-to-government labor export programs will be used to place the workers overseas.
“The commission has been approached by multiple delegations seeking collaboration for the export initiative. This made it necessary to create a framework of policies to direct the procedure.
The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Labor, who are in charge of investigating the markets for teacher export, will collaborate closely with TSC, a government agency, Ms. Macharia stated.
The qualifications, experiences, and fundamental abilities needed for a particular international teaching position will be outlined in the selection criteria.
A teacher must be a citizen of Kenya, completed training, and earned a degree, diploma, or certificate in education from an accredited institution in order to be eligible for placement overseas. They must also fulfill additional requirements for TSC registration.
Chapter Six of the Constitution must be followed, and the teacher must be registered with the TSC.
Additional requirements set by the host nation, such as professional certifications, specialized training, language proficiency, or other job-specific requirements, must also be met by the teacher.
The policy document states that “the commission will coordinate with the relevant ministries and agencies to offer an orientation program for the chosen teachers that will cover issues such as security, medical, transportation, terms of engagement, compensation, career guidance and development, cultural sensitivity, transparency and accessibility, language skills (where applicable), and specific educational practices prevalent in the host country.”
Additionally, the TSC will push for uniform contracts that cover all terms and conditions of service, such as pay, hours worked, benefits, housing, insurance, and terms of repatriation.
Teachers who hold permanent and pensionable positions with the TSC must leave their current jobs in order to accept teaching positions abroad. These positions will be filled by the TSC to prevent disruptions to instruction.
Following their return, the teachers will be able to apply for positions when they become available, but they will not be assured a position, according to the regulation.
Musalia Mudavadi, the cabinet secretary for foreign and diaspora affairs and prime minister, highlighted a few teachers who had found teaching positions in the United States in July. However, this effort was organized through a placement agency rather than the government.
The policy framework will formalize the involvement of Kenyan teachers who will work overseas and safeguard their interests by “collaborating with relevant stakeholders and partners to provide guidance on clear, fair, and competitive terms and conditions of service for Kenyan teachers to be employed outside the Kenyan borders,” the document states.
Developing cooperative relationships with the host nations is another goal. By using an organized strategy that involves instructors from all backgrounds in possibilities overseas, it promotes lifetime learning and international educational collaboration.
According to the text, “Kenyan teachers will be supported as they enter the global labor market and use their skills and competencies through the implementation of this policy framework.”
The government has not been able to hire all of the certified and registered tutors, even though Kenya is experiencing a teacher shortage.
Upon announcing 46,000 openings in October of this year, the TSC received 314,117 applications, underscoring the high prevalence of unemployment among recent graduates.
The government has struggled for years to fill staffing shortages in schools at all levels. The worst impact since its implementation two years ago has been junior school.
During his 2022 presidential campaign, President William Ruto pledged to hire 116,000 people in two years, but this has proven to be a challenging undertaking.
Opportunities for teaching abroad provide Kenyan educators with priceless chances for professional development.
Their effectiveness as educators is increased when they are exposed to a variety of educational systems, teaching philosophies, and cultural contexts.
Furthermore, Kenyan teachers who work overseas help to generate remittances, which support their families and increase the nation’s foreign exchange earnings, according to the policy document.
The TSC will create and keep an up-to-date database of Kenyan teachers who are open to working abroad and match them with appropriate jobs, in accordance with the policy. Additionally, a criterion for choosing the professors will be established by the commission.
In order to facilitate real-time data entry, storage, and retrieval of information on teachers, the commission will set up a database that contains personal information, professional and academic credentials, areas of competence, the host nation, and any other pertinent data. According to the document, the database will also help with reporting and data analysis.
After that, the TSC will set up a uniform application procedure where educators can send in their resumes and indicate interest in teaching overseas. The database will only be accessible to authorized personnel.
In order to get instructors’ opinions about the registration and matching process, the database will have a feedback feature. The policy framework will be reviewed every three years or more frequently as needed.
Labor migration is a fundamental component of the administration of President William Ruto’s employment creation strategy.
Critics of the idea have questioned why the government shouldn’t create jobs locally and have pointed out that some of the low-level positions available, particularly in the Middle East, have slave-like circumstances.
TSC to employ 5,862 primary school teachers on permanent terms by January 2025.
 on (pnp) terms){kind=link}