Biometric listing of teachers set to kick off in May
Bernard Gitau @benagitau
The biometric registration of teachers which is aimed at weeding out ghost workers is scheduled to start in May.
Teachers Service Commission (TSC) said yesterday the exercise would be carried out on a pilot basis in seven counties.
TSC Deputy Commission Secretary Kennedy Mulunda said the exercise will cover all the 321,811 teachers in 32,004 basic education institutions across the country.
“The exercise will help the commission clean up the payroll,” he said.
He said the exercise will capture seven counties targeting teachers employed by TSC in all public basic education institutions.
Speaking during the stakeholders’ conference on biometric registration of teachers at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) Mulunda said the registration will be conducted from May 11 to 15 in Uasin Gishu, Homa Bay, Bungoma, Nyeri, Kilifi, Kitui and Garissa.
The biometric registration of teachers according to Mulunda will also assist the commission to verify teacher distribution, utilisation and teaching specialisation in all public institutions.
“We want to update the existing information on the teachers biodata and validate their requirement in all public schools and teacher training colleges by size and learner enrollment,” he added.
TSC saays there are a total of 99,381 teachers in 8,865 secondary schools and the bulk of teachers in 22,633 primary schools at 217,281.
However, the figure contrasts the Ministry of Education data which puts the total number of primary schools at 37,910 while secondary schools at 11,399.
The rest of teachers are in 170 Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs) centres, (1,201) and 336 Teachers Training Colleges/CEMASTEA/ KISE at 3,948.
On February 22, before the National Assembly’s Education Committee, TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia put the teachers’ shortfall at 104,087 both in primary and secondary schools.
She said the current number of teachers’ stands at 305,568. To bridge this gap, TSC requires Sh17 billion but only Sh3.2 billion has been set aside.
Macharia told MPs that the commission would not be able to employ new teachers.
“The commission projected recruitment of 40,000 interns at a total cost of Sh4.8 billion and normal recruitment of 25,000 teachers at a cost of Sh15.4 billion. The financing gap stands at Sh17 billion,” she said.
But according to the National Education Sector Strategic Plan 2018-2022, presently, TSC estimates an overall teacher shortage of 96,345.
During yesterday’s forum, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary general Wilson Sossion supported the exercise terming it a step in the right direction.
“This is one of the best programme by the TSC to get the actual data on teachers. This will help the government in planning and budgeting for more teachers’ employment and training,” he said.
He added that the use of quantitative research methods would also help the commission in understanding teachers’ distribution and specialisation.
Sossion said the programme will help the government in accelerating the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), the education goal.
He said the exercise “aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
Education officials said the government will be required to address some challenges such as inadequate teacher training institutions infrastructure facilities.
The Ministry of Education disclosed that there are 26 public primary teacher training colleges and three public diploma teacher training colleges, spread across the country.
Some of the institutions lack modern facilities capable of delivering the Competency-Based Curriculum.
