Packed schedule as cla***s resume after mid-term break
Learning in schools resumes today after the mid-term break to yet another tight schedule to cover the syllabus within the shortest time possible.
The second half of the first term starts today and ends on October 2.
Classes resume again as about 9,000 recently recruited teachers report to their work stations.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha is this morning scheduled to take the Form One students mop up exercise to Baringo County.
“Our job is to ensure all children who complete Standard Eight transit to Form One and beyond,” Magoha said.
He urged Kenyans to ignore critics of the campaign saying the ministry will continue with the exercise for the sake of children from poor backgrounds.
“Do not listen to naysayers who do not know what they are talking about. The mop up will continue throughout the country when schools resume from mid-term break,” he said.
He said the campaign will go on until all counties achieve the 100 per cent transition, noting that the policy, which started in 2018, has been transformative and ensured that most children benefit from basic education.
“The footprint of transformation that 100 per cent policy has achieved is evident from the figures we have recorded so far.
I want to urge the public to ignore those making noise about this policy without facts,” Magoha added.
Some of the counties that have a high transition rates are Nyeri, Nyamira, Bomet, Mandera, Nyandarua, Kisii, Homa Bay, Kirinyaga, Migori and Kiambu.
It is expected the additional teachers will improve the teacher student ratio but also support the 100 per cent transition.
In June, TSC advertised for 8,914 teaching vacancies out of who 3,897 will be posted to primary and 4,927 for secondary schools.
Last week, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) said the new teachers will report to their duty stations from September 1.
TSC Secretary Nancy Macharia said the teachers will report under new online reform measures currently being implemented by the Commission, which allow them to receive their salaries at the end of the first month.
The reporting system for the teachers is expected to end delay in processing their first month pay from the initial three months to just one.
“In enhancing its transformation agenda set out in the 2019/2023 Strategic Plan, the Commission has successfully developed the entry/exit report module and migrated its services related to posting, transfer and deployment of teachers as well as filling entry and exit returns to an online system,” said Macharia, in a circular to education field officers dated August 24.
Macharia directed that there will no longer be manual filing of entry and exit reports commonly known as “casualty returns” for teachers once the online system is fully implemented on October 1.
Principals usually write the casualty returns whenever new teachers report to school, data which is subsequently sent to TSC and used to pay teachers or undertake other processes.
According to Macharia, the initiative is intended to eventually phase out all the manual processes pertaining to issuing, submission and processing of posting, transfer, deployment letters and related returns with the ultimate goal of enhancing service delivery to teachers and stakeholders.
“The module will be accessed on the TSC website where the user guidelines have also been provided.
The Commission’s field staff and Heads of institutions are directed to acquaint themselves with the module in readiness for roll out on October 1,” she said.
