TSC on the Spot Over Recruitment of Teachers

Homa Bay Town Constituency MP, Hon. Peter Kaluma, has directed a series of questions to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) regarding the recent exercise of recruitment of teachers  for primary and secondary schools.

Speaking in Parliament on March 14,2023 Kaluma asked the TSC to provide details of all teachers employed during the last recruitment exercise, including their names, ethnicity, and counties of origin.

He also requested confirmation that the recruitment of teachers process complied with the requirements of Article 232(h) and (i) of the Constitution.

Additionally, the MP asked the Commission to explain the circumstances under which it failed to undertake the recent recruitment of teachers on a “first-to-graduate first-to-be employed” principle.

He urged the Commission to consider absorbing all qualified teachers, particularly those in Homa Bay Town Constituency and the larger Homa Bay County, who graduated before 2012 in a bid to address the acute understaffing in primary and secondary schools in the said region.

Kaluma emphasized the need for affirmative action steps to ensure that qualified teachers hailing from Homa Bay Town Constituency and Homa Bay County generally, whose employment has been unduly delayed, are employed.

The MP pointed out that the region has been disproportionately affected by the shortage of teachers, leading to poor academic performance and a high dropout rate among students.

The issue of teacher shortage in Homa Bay County is not new, and several stakeholders have raised concerns about the matter in the past.

The recent call by Hon. Kaluma for the TSC to absorb all qualified teachers in the region, particularly those who graduated before 2012, is a welcome move and has been met with widespread support from various quarters.

In the beginning of December, the TSC announced 35,550 available teaching positions for primary and junior secondary schools.

The employer specified that there are 9,000 permanent and pensionable job openings for secondary school teachers and 1,000 for primary school teachers.

Furthermore, TSC plans to recruit 4,000 interns for primary schools and 21,550 interns for junior secondary schools.