Jobless primary school teachers commonly known as P1 teachers are up in arms demanding the Teachers Service Commission to add them to its payroll. The tutors are citing unfairness in recent recruitment with the employer focusing on Graduates in staffing Junior Secondary schools. But, is Jss the reason for not employing P1 teachers? Well, on face value the commission cannot be blamed but let's face it, JSS Transition is as lame as it gets . Here is why...
Photo: TSC CEO, Dr. Nancy Macharia. ( Credit : The Standard
Teacher shortage in Public Educational Institutions has rocked this country since pre-independance era to date. Different governments have tried to plug the deficit but the efforts are yet to achieve the ideal student to teacher ratio.
The roll out of Competence Based Curriculum was bound to deepen the teacher shortage crisis as the new curriculum gave rise to a whole new dynamic of permeating knowledge, skills and attitudes in addition to introduction of new learning areas with widened scope as opposed to 8-4-4 system which was skewed towards mastery of theoretical concepts. Significant investment was absolutely necessary if the roll - out was to become anything close to a success. One area the government could not give a wide berth to, was human resource; the instructors better known as facilitators under the new curriculum dispensation.
Under the new curriculum framework, the duration a learner spends in primary school was reduced from 8 to 6 years. The bureaucrats at Jogoo House believe that reduced duration automatically translates to reduced workload hence halting man power acquisition in primary schools; nothing can be further from the truth. The deficit is as huge as it has been. As matter of fact more P1 teachers need to be employed to address the unique and diverse demands of the CBC curriculum which is premised upon inculcating skills and nurturing talents for self - sustainability. An enormous teacher to pupil ratio only makes implementation of the curriculum artificial and as such, the goals of education as spelt out in Basic Education Curriculum Framework under CBC are rendered elusive. So, in all honesty and realistically the services of more tutors in primary schools need to be acquired.
Even if we belief the narrative of underload for a second, teacher recruitment is a continuous process not a one-off as the commission is trying to twist the policy. Every month, thousands of teachers especially in primary schools, create deficit through natural attrition. A substantial number exit the service through retirements therefore necessitating replacements.
The commission had a policy of advertising replacements quarterly in every financial year but if you ask anyone the last time such adverts were out, they probably won't remember. The commission either stopped or took another approach in replacements.
The uproar from P1 teachers stems from the fact that TSC no longer advertises replacement slots but actually replaces the said teachers through unorthodox means such as dishing the slots to MPS who gift them to their stalwarts or to the highest bidders. This is purely illegal, an impunity and a classic case of unfair labour practices!
When quizzed as to why they no longer advertise the replacements, the commission claims to use of existing recruitment merit lists to replace but it's common knowledge that doesn't happen and even if it does, the frequency is untraceable. What is supposed to be an independent commission has been captured by the who is who in the government thereby swerving it from its constitutional mandate.
Advertising the replacements in absence of mass recruitment in primary section will definitely create significant employment opportunities for the masses of P1 teachers. So the narrative that JSS is the reason for unemployment in primary section is just a baseless excuse.
The commission can get its acts together and mitigate the unemployment outcry amongst P1 teachers.
Comments