The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) on Wednesday said it received 314,117 applications for 46,000 advertised teacher posts between October 1 and 8.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia, appearing before the Parliamentary Education Committee, said of these applications, 93,646 were for primary teacher posts against the 6,000 advertised, while 144, 177 were for junior secondary school (JSS) teachers against the 39,550 posts advertised.
TSC further received 76,294 applications for the 450 secondary school teacher posts it advertised, she told MPs.
In that vein, the Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Women Teachers Association Benter Opande welcomed the move, urging that the move will address the current shortfall of the teacher-student ratio. She urged the government to increase budgetary allocation to the Teachers Service Commission for the employment of more teachers now that the facts have been laid bare by the TSC. This will improve the teacher-pupil ratio
“The teacher-student ratio in Kenya is a critical factor that impacts the quality of education. According to the Basic Education Statistical Booklet 2020, the current recommended teacher-student ratio is 1:25 for pre-primary schools, 1:40 for primary schools, and 1:35 for secondary schools. But that is not the case in some parts of the country dealing with a teacher-student ratio of as high as 1:70.
She also emphasized the importance of continuous training, capacity building, and retooling of teachers, especially on ICT demands on innovative ways of teaching to make the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) a success.
She concluded by underscoring the need for government intervention to improve the infrastructure in schools and the government to seek partners to ensure the CBC program is sustainable.
