The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has revealed its plan to hire 12000 interns ahead of schools reopening in January next year.
The commission said it promptly needs Ksh25 billion to efficiently plan for schools opening, which has been pushed to January next year.
The Commission stated it plans to hire 12,000 more intern teachers before the opening date in January next year to add up to 23,574, the total number of teacher interns hired since last year.
The commission now demands Ksh17 billion to hire some 26,000 teachers to accomplish high schools enrollment under the 100 per cent transition. It also requires Ksh8.1 billion yearly to hire 12,500 teachers to curb the normal shortage.
TSC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Nancy Macharia submitted the report to parliament during a two-day consultative forum with National Assembly Education Committee.
She revealed that the commission intends to employ 12,500 teachers yearly for the next five years to moderate the shortage in Kenya.
“However, this target has not been met due to inadequate budgetary provisions,” she said. Under regular staffing, Macharia noted that the commission requires 50,504 teachers to support the current staff establishment.
Urgent need
“Instead, the commission has so far only employed 23,700 teachers since 2017,” she said. In the 2020-2021 financial year, TSC received a budget of Ksh2.5 billion to hire 5,000 teachers.
Under the Economic Stimulus Programme, the commission was allotted an additional Ksh2.4 billion funds to engage 12,000 interns.
Macharia said there is an urgent requirement to meet the right staffing levels amid the Covid-19 pandemic that continues to cause difficulties in schools.
