Teachers Service Commission seeks Sh4b for nursery teachers

An Early Childhood Development Education teacher at work. The Teachers Service Commission and the counties are in a tussle over the control of the teachers.

By AUGUSTINE ODUOR

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Teachers Service Commission is seeking Sh4.8 billion to recruit 24,000 nursery school teachers, fuelling a clash with governors and senators, who argue the recruitment is the preserve of counties.

However, TSC has insisted that recruitment, promotions and remuneration of teachers is their role.

The commission’s Secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni said he is ready to hire the teachers once he gets the funds to do so. He said developing a scheme of service is the first step towards recruitment of nursery school teachers.

TSC has already started the process of recruiting the Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers. The commission has developed a scheme of service for the teachers who will be posted to public schools. Those at the lowest grade will earn Sh20,000.

Now the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) wants TSC to gazette the scheme of service and immediately roll out a recruitment drive. The scheme of service seen by The Standard establishes nine grades of Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers’ cadre and seven grades of assistant ECDE teachers.

Under the nine levels of ECDE teachers, the chief principal ECDE teacher will fall under job group R. The senior principal ECDE teacher I and II will fall under job groups Q and P respectively. The senior ECDE teacher will be in job group M. Other ECDE teachers I, II, III and IV will fall under job group L, K, J, and H.

And for the assistant ECDE teachers, the senior assistant ECDE teacher I will fall under job group L. Assistant ECDE teachers I, II, III and IV will fall under job groups H, G, F and E.

KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion said all nursery school teachers currently employed by county governments should be given employment letters by TSC. He told governors to hand over the teachers they had recruited to TSC as the employer is now ready to recruit.

“What we are waiting for now is the cash to hire these teachers so that TSC can perform its constitutional mandate,” said Sossion.

Governors have been embroiled in a tug of war with TSC over who should recruit nursery school teachers. Lengoiboni said Article 237 of the Constitution mandates the Commission to recruit, deploy, remunerate, promote and discipline all registered teachers in public schools.

He said that part of TSC’s mandate is to review standards of education and training of persons entering the service in addition to advising the national Government on matters relating to the teaching profession.

A TSC document titled Teacher Recruitment in the Devolved Government says that county governments should only be in control of the ECDE ‘facilities’ and ‘support’ staff.

TEACHING STANDARDS

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said recruitment of nursery teachers is the reserve of TSC. Prof Kaimenyi said other aspects of ECDE such as infrastructure have been devolved but noted hiring, promotions and development of teaching standards.

“This is a constitutional mandate and we are also looking at maintenance of quality and standards in the teaching service and education sector as a whole,” he said.

But Council of Governors chairman Isaac Ruto has rubbished TSC’s argument, saying the Constitution, under the Fourth Schedule part 2 (9), cites pre-primary education and childcare facilities as some of the devolved services. Senate Committee on Education and Information chairman Mutahi Kagwe is on record saying recruitment of nursery teachers is a county governments’ function.

Lengoiboni said basic education includes all ‘pre-school’ children aged between four and five, who fall under primary education.

“This means that pre-primary education is considered as part of primary education and the TSC is mandated to by Article 237 of the constitution to recruit, deploy, remunerate and disciplines all trained teachers,” reads the document.

“The TSC should therefore recruit and manage pre-primary teachers. In so doing the commission shall ensure compliance with teaching standards,” he added.