Keep off recruitment of teachers, Teachers Service Commission warns counties

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) could be on a collision course with a number of county governments after it warned them against recruitment.

The TSC, in a statement signed by its Chief Executive Gabriel Lengoiboni, warned county governments against teacher recruitment as "this amounted to usurping the constitutional mandate of the TSC".

"County governments have no mandate in law to recruit and assign teachers to public learning institutions registered under the Basic Education Act 2013. This mandate is vested exclusively with the Teachers Service Commission under Article 237 (2) (b) and (c) of the Constitution," said TSC.

The position taken by the TSC is set to put it at loggerheads with the affected county governments, which have been pushing the Government to employ more teachers to boost the current teacher to pupil ratio.

Among the counties that have recruited and paid teachers are Kakamega and Bungoma. The former has advertised for 545 positions on a contractual basis.

TSC in its statement acknowledged the shortage of teachers but dismissed the role of the county governments in their recruitment, saying the commission only allows school management boards to recruit  "on a temporary basis".

"As a way of addressing the teacher shortage, Boards of Management can engage teachers on volunteer basis as they wait to be absorbed by the TSC," the commission said in its statement.

TSC said any county wishing to participate in the process should consult school management boards.