The Teachers Service Commission has come under fire from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) over the delay in posting teachers to junior secondary schools.
A week after junior secondary school students reported to their schools, Knut Secretary-General Mr. Collins Oyuu stated that no learning had taken place.
He requested that the Ministry of Education make sure that the government’s promise to distribute textbooks to the schools is kept.
Only a few teachers had reported to some schools, according to Mr. Oyuu, who spoke in Kisumu, and they were finding it difficult to manage a huge number of students.
“A week is not a short time in the learning process, the learners have lost several hours. I have visited several schools where learning has not been taking place.
“TSC keeps saying teachers have been posted to the schools but where are the teachers?” asked Mr Oyuu.
The learners in junior secondary schools reported to their respective schools on January 30 but learning is yet to begin in several schools.
“We have a deficit of 120,000 teachers in our schools and it is time TSC ensured more teachers are hired to avoid disruption of learning,” said Mr Oyuu.
In order for teachers to move back to their home counties, Mr. Oyuu requested that the TSC issue their transfer letters.
According to him, the transfer letters had already been sent to the TSC regional offices, but the administrators still hadn’t given them to the teachers so they could transfer to their new stations.
“TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia confirmed that letters had been dispatched to the regional headquarters. Regional directors of education should release the transfer letters to the teachers to enable them to move to their new stations,” said Mr Oyuu in Kisumu on Friday.
He said teachers had diligently applied online to be relocated to the new stations as directed by the TSC.
“One of the challenges the TSC has faced is the transfer of those in administrative positions due to lack of vacancies but we have given TSC time to assess the situation regarding school heads and deputies before they are transferred,” said Mr Oyuu.
He said the union had anticipated that all teachers who had requested to be transferred to their home counties would be transferred by the end of January but that is yet to happen.
