MOMBASA: The teachers’ employer has launched a Sh16 billion strategic plan that acknowledges the need to address teacher deficit.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) admits there is a huge staffing challenge occasioned by the rising number of children under the free education programme and the increasing number of new schools.
The TSC 2015-2019 Strategic Plan states that in the last five years only, 28,000 new teachers were recruited. According to the plan, this is inadequate if measured against enrolment and expansion numbers.
In 2011 for instance, enrolment in primary schools stood at 7.8 million and 1.6 million in secondary schools, yet the number of teachers was 182,323 and 58,869 for primary and secondary schools respectively.
And this year, the document states there are 8.1 million children in primary schools and 2.2 million in secondary schools, yet the teaching force stands at 211,809 and 75,717 for primary and secondary schools respectively. The five-year strategic plan states the teacher deficit currently stands at 92,000 and predicts this will rise to 95,352 by December and to 116,513 by 2019.
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Proposed Implementation
“There is still great demand for teachers occasioned by the implementation of the free primary education and affordable day secondary education programmes and increased establishment of new schools under the constituency development fund,” TSC says.
In its proposed implementation budget, TSC plans to spend Sh2.3 billion annually on recruitment of teachers.
“The largest portion of Sh15.7 billion will be spent on optimal utilisation of teaching resources that entails recruitment of additional teachers to address projected growth in population and hence school enrolment,” reads the document.
The plan cites service delivery re-engineering and decentralisation, which it says will entail automation of teacher management processes and establishment of facilities and infrastructure at county and sub-county levels.
“This is projected to cost Sh2.8 billion, spread over five years.”
Provision of digital literacy services that will incorporate integration of ICT in curriculum delivery is estimated to cost Sh600 million.
Strategies to roll out teacher performance appraisals system is estimated to cost Sh423 million during the five years. But on teacher shortage, the TSC document says public institutions still experience a significant teacher shortage due to increased learner enrolment.
“This implies teacher shortages may continue to be the greatest challenge in provision of quality education hence the need to explore more efficient approaches in utilisation of the teaching resources,” the document reads.
The teachers’ employer says the significant projected shortfall of teachers will necessitate adoption of various policy options such as enhancing the number of additional teachers to be recruited annually.
It also says a review of the existing staffing norms and identifying alternative modes of curriculum delivery are key in addressing the projected deficit.
The teacher employer, however, says it is deploying teachers to ensure equity in teacher distribution.
On teacher promotions, TSC acknowledges that many teachers stall in some job groups due to budgetary constraints.
“A significant number of non-graduate teachers are disadvantaged through stagnation on the same grade despite existence of a policy framework that provides for an increase of budgetary allocations for teacher proficiency courses,” reads the document.
TSC says the limited opportunities for upward mobility for the various cadres of teachers resulted in a demotivated teaching force and turnover.
