Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has commenced deployment of practising Primary Teachers Education (PTE) teachers to secondary schools.
Chief Executive Officer of TSC Dr. Nancy Macharia has stated that additional teachers would be deployed to Junior Secondary schools now that the Competency-based curriculum is in place.
Collins Oyuu, who serves as Secretary General for Knut, pointed out that the process of deployment is still going on.
The process of deployment started long ago. It has been an ongoing process in readiness for the next year’s Junior Secondary transition,’’ Says Oyuu.
The commission gave the county of Nairobi five deployment letters, while the counties of Kilifi, Kiambu, Makueni, Embu, and Kajiado each received three deployment letters. Both went to Nakuru County.
The TSC required teachers to meet certain targets in order to be qualified for deployment to teach in the Junior Secondary level.
TSC further added that it will provide training for the Junior Secondary teachers who will be assigned there.
This year, the teachers’ body didn’t put out a call for applicants for the deployment roles; instead, they utilized a merit list compiled from applications submitted in prior years to place the PTE teachers in their classrooms.
TSC published job postings for 1,000 deployment positions in 2019 and 2020 to address the shortage of qualified teachers and to facilitate the necessary 100 percent primary-to-secondary school transition.
TSC promotes elementary school teachers with advanced degrees through the practice of deployment.
Lawmakers had requested that TSC elevate teachers with a KCSE mean grade of C plain or below, as well as those who have earned a certificate, postgraduate diploma, or degree from a recognized academic institution.
The TSC, on the other hand, increased the bar for those teachers who want to teach in junior secondary schools.
All candidates must be Kenyan citizens, and the position requires a bachelor’s degree in education with two subject specializations and a P1 certificate.
Deployed teachers must not only hold a degree in a secondary field, but also a grade of C+ or above in each subject they teach and be in full compliance with the TSC code of conduct.
However, not everyone is aware that some primary school teachers have enrolled in colleges to pursue secondary education degrees despite having averaged just a C (plain) on the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.
During that time, students who had earned an average of C (plain) on the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and who also possessed a PTE certificate were able to register in universities such as Nairobi, Kenyatta, Pwani, and Mount Kenya.
Those deployed started at job grade C2 at a basic salary scale of Sh34,955 and Sh43,694 at a maximum per month. Those who live outside of a municipality also receive a housing allowance of Sh7,500 per year, in addition to a commuter allowance of Sh5,000 and a paid leave allowance of Sh6,000.
Those living in economically disadvantaged regions receive a hardship stipend of Sh10,900 per year.
After three years on the job, the teacher will be promoted to pay grade C3 in accordance with the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG).
