By RAWLINGS OTIENO
The Government needs Sh15.4 billion to recruit 40,000 teachers to ease shortage in schools.
Education PS George Godia said the country needs 80,000 additional teachers in public primary and secondary schools to operate effectively.
He said that enrollment stood at 5.9 billion in primary school and 1.9 million in secondary schools.
“The Government must address the deficiency to ensure students not only accessed education, but also got quality education. This can only be achieved if there are enough teachers,” said Godia.
He said the envisaged recruitment of the 40,000 teachers would ease the shortage in the shorter term, when the Ministry of Finance allocates the funds in the 2012/13 financial year.
Speaking when he presided over the Tinderet District Education Day celebrations at Samoei Secondary School in Nandi Hills Township yesterday, Godia noted that the Government requires 6.9 billion to recruit Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers, saying this cadre of teachers would provide a solid foundation for pupils.
Numeracy skills
Godia revealed that the Government planned to employ 25,000 ECD teachers in next financial year, for the 25,000 nurseries in public primary schools.
He said the Government was committed to ensuring that pupils in Standard Two would have the right literacy and numeracy skills to be able to follow instructions at every level of learning.
The Government, in conjunction with USaid, has developed a programme to strengthen the quality of instruction. The programme is to among other things ensure that pupils have a teaching and learning experiences that imparted appropriate skills that would improve ability to read, write and do simple mathematics at Standard Two.
Speaking at the same function Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey expressed concern that research reports had indicated that pupils in Standard Six did not have the literacy and numeracy skills to perform tasks normally meant for Standard Two pupils.
