MPs want equal posting of 5,000 new teachers

Kenya: Parliament wants 4,350 teachers shared out equally with 15 tutors for each of Kenya's 290 constituencies to ensure balance.

Members of the National Assembly Committee on Education said yesterday the current system used by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) leads to skewed appointments with some regions benefiting more than others.

"The balance should then be left for the TSC to hire, based on other criteria such as affirmative action and based on the most understaffed regions," said committee member and Mogotio MP, Hellen Sambili.

The Government allocated some Sh2.25 billion towards recruitment of 5,000 teachers in this financial year.

But the teachers' employer said some constituencies are already over staffed and so it prefers to stick to the current formula of appointing teachers. TSC's director in charge of teacher management, Nancy Macharia, said some 2,479 teachers will be recruited for primary schools and another 2,521 for secondary schools.

"We have already received data from our county directors and it is currently being cleaned. Once we complete this, we shall tell which schools will get how many slots on a pro-rata basis," said Macharia.

She represented commission secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni, who is out of the country, during a meeting with the House committee in Parliament. She said the overall goal of TSC is to establish and maintain a sufficient professional teaching service for public education institutions in the country, except universities.

She said the ideal staffing norms that should have been used for recruitment are not ready.

"We already did a Cabinet memo to the ministry and that is where we are as at now," she said.

Education Principal Secretary Bellio Kipsang said the ministry received the memo but wanted some sections amended. The staffing system are expected to ensure equitable distribution of new teachers.