His Excellency President William Ruto has confirmed that his administration is set to make use of primary school teachers with Degree and Diploma certificates to teach in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) when schools reopen.
The Head of State spoke during a joint media briefing on Wednesday night when he assured parents whose children are set to join Grade 7 that there will be a smooth transition when they join JSS at the end of this month.
Further, President Ruto allayed fears regarding the transition of Grade 6 learners to JSS saying that the process will be seamless.
He said that there will be enough classrooms in all public primary schools in preparation for the transition.
“We have extra classrooms in all schools that will be used by the Junior Secondary pioneer cohorts and there is no need for parents to transfer their children. We have the curriculum in place and are now addressing the teachers’ shortage.
“The only thing that is going to be pending and which we will engage with our Members of Parliament is to build a laboratory for them within the next year,” said President Ruto.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has already begun the process of deploying teachers to Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) by asking for details of P1 teachers.
The teachers will assist in covering the notable teacher shortages once schools reopen for the first term of this academic year.
TSC asked primary school headteachers to fill and submit a template it has provided to help to get the teachers who shall teach in Grade 7 starting this month.
The following are the details that the Commission has asked primary school headteachers to provide.
- TSC Number
- Name and Gender of the teacher
- School/Institution
- Sub-County
- KCSE Mean Grade
- Qualification i.e. DIP, BED
- Subject Combination
- KCSE Subject Grade e.g. MAT C+ & PHY B-
- Year of Graduation
- Year of Birth
- Mobile Number
The decision to host the Competency-Based Curriculum’s (CBC) junior secondary school level in primary schools has given primary school teachers a chance to be promoted as long as they have upgraded their PTE certificates to Diploma and Degree certificates.
However, the Commission insists that it is only primary school teachers who meet the requirements for deployment will be allowed to teach in JSS.
This only means that only teachers who have Diploma and Degree certificates including the following will be allowed to teach in junior secondary.
- Diploma and Degree in Special Needs Education
- Diploma and Degree in Early Childhood Development Education
- Diploma and Degree in Education (Primary option)
- Degree in Education (Secondary Option) but lacking C+ at KCSE or C+ in teaching subjects.
According to reports, around 17,000 primary school teachers have the above qualifications. The Commission needs around 60,000 teachers to teach Grade 7 learners meaning that there is a potential for many primary school teachers to get the opportunity to reach JSS.
The Commission is at the moment recruiting around 30,550 teachers for JSS later this month.
Out of 30,550 slots, 9,000 are meant for permanent and pensionable terms of service for secondary school teachers who will be posted to junior secondary schools.
A further 21,550 slots were set assigned for the recruitment of teacher interns in junior secondary schools. The teachers will be posted before the schools reopen on the 23rd of January.
This was revealed when the TSC Chairperson Jamleck Muturi and the TSC Legal affairs Mr Calvin Anyuor appeared before the Education and Research Committee of the National Assembly when they pledged to deploy primary school teachers to teach in junior secondary school.
Anyuor represented the TSC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Nancy Macharia and he said that the process of deploying P1 teachers with Diploma and Certificates to teach in Grade 7 in January had already begun.
“Currently we are mapping those teachers and shortly we will get the numbers tight,” said Anyuor.
Revelations that TSC had allocated one teacher per class in JSS had led to the deployment of primary school teachers in JSS.
The Commission is also going to train teachers who shall teach Grade 7 learners this month on the following areas taught in the JSS.
- Languages (English, Kiswahili, Foreign and Indigenous Languages, and the Kenya Sign Language
- Pure Science (integrated science; biology, chemistry, physics, and health education)
- Applied sciences (agriculture, home science, and computer studies.
- Mathematics
- Humanities – social studies (citizenship, geography history) Religious Studies (CRE, IRE, Hindu, HRE, and PPI), and life skills
- Technical subjects and creative arts – pre-vocational and pre-career business studies, music, sports, physical education, and home science.