When the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) hires this month, tutors who have been jobless the longest will be given preference, and those who are now working as secondary school interns will be automatically hired to teach junior high.
The TSC announced on Wednesday that those who became
certified as teachers in 2010 or earlier and have not yet been employed by the
commission will receive an automatic score of 60%, while those who graduated
this year or last year will receive a score of 5% under the category of “length
of stay since becoming certified.” For both primary and post-primary teachers,
this is applicable.
This is according to guidelines for the recruitment of
teachers released by the TSC that will be used as the commission hires 35,000
teachers this month.
- Academic
qualifications will also play a big role in the scoring. For graduate
teachers, a first class honours degree will earn the applicant 35 per cent
of the marks, a second class 30 per cent and a pass 25 per cent. For
diploma holders, a distinction will score 30 per cent, a credit 25 per
cent and a pass 20 per cent.
- The
applicants’ communication ability is weighted at five per cent.
The application window
will close tomorrow after which the TSC will develop the merit lists for the
selection to start. Tomorrow, TSC regional and county directors will be taken
through a ‘virtual sensitisation’ of the recruitment, including the guidelines.
The TSC yesterday also released a schedule of
activities during the recruitment period. After the closure of the application
window, the commission will embark on the generation of applicants’ lists,
shortlisting by the sub-county selection panel and invitation for interviews.
This will be completed on Friday next week.
The merit lists shall be used in the current recruitment of teachers
and any subsequent recruitment process within the financial year,” reads the
guidelines.
Only five applicants will be shortlisted per
advertised post.
The lists of shortlisted candidates will be submitted to TSC
headquarters by the regional directors on December 27.
“The list of shortlisted applicants by subject combination
shall immediately be submitted to the TSC county director who shall verify the
lists, compile and submit the lists to TSC regional director who shall in turn
verify, compile and submit the lists to the headquarters for publishing on the
TSC website,” the guidelines read. This will be on December 30.
The country recruitment process will take place for eight
days beginning on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, and ending on Thursday, January 12.
The successful candidates will be vetted at the county level, where complaints
will also be handled up to January 20. During the period, the hired teachers
will sign internship agreements, offer of internship letters and those on
permanent terms will sign offer of employment letters. They are all expected to
report to school on January 23 when schools open.
The commission has also explained that applicants who have
training in subjects that are currently not in the secondary school curriculum
will not be eligible for recruitment, even if they have a post-graduate diploma
in education.
Some of the areas of study that do not qualify include
Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts in Natural Resources, Horticulture,
Fisheries, Meteorology, Farm Machinery, Anthropology, Forestry, Sociology,
Biotechnology, Animal Husbandry, Journalism, Theology and Divinity.
The recruitment has been hit by fears that politicians might
interfere with it, forcing the commission CEO Nancy Macharia to declare that
they have no role in the process.
Since the TSC announced the vacancies on Friday last week,
some members of Parliament have been mobilising unemployed teachers from their
regions and collecting their data, including copies of their academic certificates.
The Nation has seen letters reportedly issued by Kiharu MP
Ndindi Nyoro and Kabete MP James Githua Kamau, inviting unemployed teachers for
meetings, even though the agenda is not specified in the letters.
There are fears that the intention is to lock out teachers
who do not come from some regions from the recruitment.
In a video clip circulating online, Lurambi MP Titus Khamala says that non-locals will not be hired to teach in schools in the region and claims to have held meetings with TSC officers from the regional office to the national level.