Approximately 6,000 intern teachers will also be contracted by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in December this year in the government’s effort to achieve a 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary schools.
The intern recruitment which will see about 2000 primary and 4000 secondary school teachers contracted will cost the commission about Sh.1.2 billion.
This happens as TSC is set to retrain over 110,000 secondary school teachers in preparation for the demands that come with the Competency-Based Curriculum.
TSC maintains that new learning areas included under CBC have made it necessary for all teachers to go back to class and obtain skills on handling subject adjustments in preparation for the secondary school double intake in 2023.
A letter dated July 26 written by TSC boss Nancy Macharia to Basic Education PS Julius Jwan indicates that the introduction of new subjects requires teachers to be trained and hired.
Special attention is mostly required in pre-technical and pre-vocational education, life skills, agriculture and health education. Others include optional subjects such as Kenya sign language, indigenous languages, visual arts and performing arts.
According to TSC Chief Executive Officer Macharia, all biology and home science teachers will have to be retrained to enable them to handle health education.
Social studies teachers must be trained on how to teach new content on citizenship. Sports and physical education teachers must also be trained on how to deal with sports and health.
The letter is an official advisory on the requirements and preparation of teachers ahead of the establishment of junior and senior secondary schools (JSS) in under two years.
Teachers are currently equipped to teach at least two subjects, unlike the CBC which has widened the teaching areas. New teaching areas included are sports, performing arts and visual and applied arts, leatherwork, hairdressing, wood technology, beauty therapy, ceramics, plumbing and welding fabrication, mandarin.
TSC maintains that teachers in different subjects that have been adjusted or adopted new learning areas will go back to school for retraining. These include business studies teachers, English and literature, mathematics, physical sciences, Kiswahili, sign language, French, Arabic, German, Agriculture, CRE, History, and building construction.
Those teaching Islamic Religious Education (IRE), Hindu Religious Education (HRE), home economics, aviation, electricity and metal technology will be retrained as well. For the retooling and training of teachers to be effectively implemented TSC recommends that sufficient funds be made available.
TSC recommends that Kagumo, Kibabii and Lugarithe colleges be ordered to admit students for the new subjects “on a demand-driven approach.”
Kenya Technical Training College (KTTC) should be upscaled in terms of the training of teachers in technical subjects required under CBC.
“Universities should be appropriately informed about the new subjects and that should guide admission of students pursuing education to meet the projected demands,” the commission says.
The pioneer CBC group is expected to transition to Junior Secondary School (JSS) in 2023. It is at JSS that learners will need to deepen their understanding of the broad CBC and choose pathways and tracks to follow in Senior Secondary School ﴾SSS﴿.
Domiciling JSS at the secondary school level will optimize teacher utilization as they will teach at both Junior and Senior Secondary school levels. Learners who, in 2022, will be in primary school Grade 6 under the 2‐6‐6‐3 CBC and those in Standard 8 of the 8‐4‐ 4 education system will concurrently transition to Junior Secondary Grade 7 and Form 1, respectively.
For the effectiveness of transition from primary to secondary education of the CBC and 8‐4‐4 cohorts and domiciling of JSS in the Basic Education structure, critical issues that will influence the double transitions need to be addressed.
