Primary school teachers who have completed upgrading their PTE certificates to Diplomas and a Degree are set to join Junior Secondary School (JSS) to help in teaching Grade 7 learners in junior secondary school in 2023.
The Teachers Service Commission wants a minimum of 60,000 teachers to teach Grade 7 learners starting January 2023.
At the moment the Commission is carrying out the recruitment of 30,550 teachers meant for Junior Secondary Schools.
A further 21,550 vacancies were allocated to the recruitment of teacher interns in Junior Secondary Schools. The teachers will be posted before school reopens on the 23rd of January 2023.
The Chairperson of TSC Mr. Jamleck Muturi and the TSC Head of Legal affairs while appearing before the Education and Research Committee of the National Assembly in the past week revealed that the Commission is planning to deploy primary school teachers to teach in junior secondary school.
Mr. Anyuor who represented the TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia said that the process of deploying P1 teachers with Diploma and Degree certificates to teach in Grade 7 class in January.
“We are mapping those teachers and shortly we will get the numbers right,” said Anyuor.
According to the TSC database, at least 17,000 primary school teachers with diplomas and degree certificates meet the qualification requirements to teach in junior secondary school.
TSC revealed that only teachers who qualify will be allowed to teach in secondary schools.
However, the Commission was asked to retool teachers with the following qualifications to enable them to teach Grades 7, 8, and 9.
- Diploma and Degree in Special Needs Education
- Diploma and Degree in Early Childhood Development Education
- Diploma and Degree in Education (Primary option)
- Diploma in Education (Secondary option)
- Degree in Education (Secondary option) but lacking C+ at KCSE or C+ in teaching subjects.
The deployment of primary school teachers was occasioned by revelations that the Commission had only allocated only one teacher per class in the junior secondary level.
Primary schools will receive teachers, according to the number of classes they have for Grades 7.
Anyuor told Members of Parliament that the government already has 30,550 Grade 7 classes across the county. The Commission allocated one teacher for every class starting in January.
“If the county has 1,000 classes we have allocated 1,000 teachers,” he said.
In addition, Anyuor revealed that the number of teachers is pegged on budget allocation by the treasury.
On his part, the TSC Chairperson Jamleck Muturi said that the Commission would retool primary school teachers to ensure that all schools have enough teachers.
He also said that the Commission will train teachers in Languages, Pure Sciences, Applied Sciences, Mathematics, Humanities, and Technical Subjects in January.
The training of Grade 7 teachers will involve the following areas offered in JSS.
- Mathematics;
- Languages;
- Pure Sciences (integrated science biology, chemistry, physics, and health education)
- Applied sciences – agriculture, home science, and computer studies
- Humanities (social studies, religious studies, and life skills
- Technical subjects and creative arts (pre-vocational and pre-career business studies, music, sports, physical education, Home science
Primary School teachers deployed in JSS will earn the same as those teaching under the 8-4-4 curriculum.
Diploma holders will start at Job Grade C1 while those with Degrees with start at Job Grade C2.
These teachers will then be moved to the next job grades automatically after they complete three years of service as stipulated in the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) for teachers.