Hire more teachers to end current crisis

The ongoing controversy between the Education ministry and teachers’ unions over teacher shortages ahead of the 2016-2017 budget should be addressed with the interests of poor and defenceless learners in mind.

According to the Education ministry, the country has enough teachers and only requires redeployment with a view to balancing schools across the board.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has demanded more money to recruit more tutors.

Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion faulted the 2016 Economic Survey Report that says there are enough teachers in schools.

He urged Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i not to be misled by the report, arguing that at least 20,000 teachers should be employed annually.

This comes as the Government plans to hire at least 5,000 teachers to fix the shortfall occasioned by natural attrition and brain-drain.

According to estimates, since the inception of Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2003, the number of teachers hired is about 11,000 while the population of learners has shot from 5.9 million to at least 20 million today.

Unesco estimates that at least 11,000 teachers exit the profession yearly translating to 143,000 since 2003.

The worst imbalances in the learner-teacher ratio occurred during the 2007-8 post-election violence

In Kenya, the annual hiring of teachers ended in 1997 due to a financial hitch. Since then, new recruitment is strictly based on availability of funds.

The Government should realise that our population goes up by one million yearly. Provision of quality and affordable education should also involve addressing shortages of teachers and improving their remuneration and terms of service.