Members of Parliament will have more time to debate the key components of the Budget, which include planned revenue sources and expenditure plans for the financial year beginning July 2022.
Funding for new teacher recruitment.
Dr. Nancy Macharia, the TSC’s boss, asked Sh5.3 billion in Parliament for the recruitment of 8,000 teachers for the 100% changeover.
Macharia also informed the Education Committee that recruiting 6,000 interns will cost Sh1.2 billion. TSC claims it has been hiring 5,000 teachers per year to keep up with the rising number of students in public schools.
Macharia expressed gratitude to the government for allocating Sh. 2.5 billion to the recruitment of 5,000 teachers this year.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani had allotted an extra Sh14.9 billion to TSC in budget estimates, bringing its budget to Sh295.9 billion from Sh281.7 billion in the next fiscal year.
The commission said it was allotted Sh295.9 billion for recurrent expenditure against an anticipated requirement of Sh310.5 billion during resource sharing at the Sector Working Group.
TSC would receive an additional Sh15 billion for the fiscal years 2022-2023. Initially, it was thought that the Commission would use the extra monies to provide teachers raises. TSC, on the other hand, disputed the charges. Instead, the sh15 billion would be used to hire 13,000 secondary school teachers and 9,000 interns to deal with leavers and the predicted increase in enrolment when junior secondary opens in January 2023.
The Commission stated this in a report given by the Parliamentary Budget Office to the National Assembly’s Committee on Education and Research.
The priorities identified in the 2022/23 budget and the medium term, according to the commission, were informed by the 2019-2023 strategic plan and Vision 2030’s medium-term plan III.
During that time, TSC planned to hire 25,000 teachers, 13,000 of whom would be permanent and pensionable, and another 12,000 interns for the next three years.
Despite the funding shortage, the commission stated that 15,000 additional instructors were recruited and deployed to help with the transition to secondary school.
The Commission went on to say that 5,000 teachers were employed in the 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 fiscal years. Similarly, TSC created a system for employing intern instructors, and 28,300 were hired.
In the financial year 2019/2020, 10,300 teacher interns were hired, with 12,000 and 6,000 hired in the fiscal years 2020/21 and 2021/22, respectively.
Money for teacher promotion and deployment
TSC boss Nancy Macharia told the committee that promoting teachers through a competitive process will cost Sh2 billion. Teachers have been promoted to various cadres by the Commission in accordance with the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG).
TSC also encourages elementary school teachers with a secondary education degree to teach in secondary schools. Every year, the Commission promotes 1,000 practicing P1 teachers by placing them in secondary schools.
Teachers’ promotions are normally announced in September of each year. Teachers in arid and semi-arid lands are promoted to administrative grade (ASAL).
Teachers in Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) are promoted to administrative ranks through affirmative action. TSC is merely waiting for money to confirm acting school administrators in ASAL districts.
Money for biometric registration, as well as TPAD and PC training.
The TSC boss stated that the agency is seeking Sh10 million for the implementation of the Teachers Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) and performance contract (PC).
Due to a lack of money, TSC has postponed the biometric registration process that was set to begin in March. “The teacher mentorship and coaching program would cost an estimated Sh50 million, while the nationwide Biometric Enrolment and Validation of Tutors will cost Sh342.4 million,” Macharia said in parliament.
Money for other important aspects of the sector
The Commission proposed spending Sh2.52 billion to train Grade Six and Seven teachers in preparation for the first CBC cohort’s transition to Junior Second in 2023. TSC has scheduled 60,000 secondary school teachers for training in April 2022.
The Commission also proposed spending Sh335 million to automate and integrate its systems for paperless operations, as well as Sh342.4 million to bring out nationwide biometric enrolment and validation of teachers, however none of these projects were funded.
TSC is seeking Sh600 million in assistance for gratuities to 3,358 contract teachers in the Northern Frontier, as well as the construction of extra county office space at a cost of Sh183.6 million.
Following the completion of the hardship review exercise and submission of the findings, the Commission has been seeking funds to implement the new hardship zones.
